KARACHI: Deputy chief of Jamaat-i-Islami Karachi chapter and former member of the National Assembly Muzaffar Hashmi passed away on Tuesday, said his party in a statement. He was 80.

“He was rushed to a private hospital in the [Tuesday] morning on complaint of chest pain, where doctors tried their best to save his life but he could not survive,” said the JI statement.

Eighty-year-old Hashmi was first elected MNA in 1985 and then in 1993. He was also a member of the City Council during mayorship of Abdul Sattar Afghani between 1979 and 1983.

His funeral prayer was held in Farooq-i-Azam Masjid in North Nazimabad, which was led by former JI emir Syed Munawwar Hasan and attended by a large number of party workers, leaders of other parties and prominent personalities of the city.

Condolence

Sindh Governor Muh­ammad Zubair also expressed grief and sorrow over the death of Hashmi. In his condolence statement, he said that Hashmi was a mature, polite and talented politician.

“The nation has been deprived of an honest and visionary leader. His services will always be remembered,” the statement quoted the Sindh governor as saying.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2018