SWABI: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Nazriyati central emir and former MNA Maulana Khalil Ahmad Mukhlis passed away here on Sunday.

The deceased’s family members said that he was diabetic patient and passed away due to cardiac arrest. He was 68.

Resident of Kotha village in Topi tehsil, Mr Mukhlis was head of Madressah Saidia Kotha, and imparted religious education to thousands of students over the past four decades.

He was elected as MNA from the then NA-12, Swabi-II constituency in the general election of 1990 on the ticket of Jamiat Ulema-i-lslam-Fazl. After the 1990 elections, Muttahida Majlis-i-Ammal government was established in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

However, during the MMA government, he developed serious differences with Maulana Fazal Ali, the then provincial education minister, but JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman did not resolve their differences, forcing Mr Mukhlis to say adieu to the party and joined JUI-N along with former JUI-F provincial general secretary Najeem Khan Advocate.

He regularly contested all previous general elections, but could not emerge victorious.

However, he succeeded in denting the vote bank of Maulana Ali.

Due to his contribution to religious education, Mr Mukhlis was highly respected across the region.

Later, he was elected as central emir of JUI-N and was its head till he breathed his last.

Mr Mukhlis left behind a widow, a son and two daughters to mourn his death.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2024