CHAKWAL: Tanzeem al Ikhwan party chief Maulana Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan, who belonged to the Naqshbandia Owaisia Order of Islam, passed away on Thursday evening after a protracted illness. He was 83.

Maulana Awan was under treatment at the Military Hospital Rawalpindi.

He was laid to rest on Friday in Munara village. Apart from thousands of his disciples, PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq and provincial minister Malik Tanveer Aslam Awan attended the funeral prayers.

Born on Dec 31, 1934 in Nurpur Sethi village, Maulana Awan set up a seminary in the neighbouring Munara village which was inaugurated by then military dictator Ziaul Haq.

A flamboyant orator, Maulana Akram Awan authored several books on religion.

In December 2000, he threatened to stage a long march on Islamabad to press the then Musharraf regime for the promulgation of Islamic laws. Then home secretary Brig Ejaz Shah and IGP Malik Asif Hayat visited him and the negotiation bore fruit, leading to the cancellation of long march plan.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2017