Transition: Senior MQM leader Shoaib Bukhari passes away

His funeral will be held today after Zuhr prayers at Jinnah Ground

KARACHI: Former parliamentarian and one of the founding members of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Advocate Shoaib Bukhari passed away at the age of 72 on Monday after a prolonged ailment at Ziauddin Hospital in North Nazimabad.

Shoaib was recently admitted to the hospital after his health deteriorated. A senior member of the party's Rabita Committee, he completed his LLB from SM Law College and joined the MQM, helping the party with legal and organisational matters.

The funeral prayers for Shoaib will be offered today, Tuesday, after Zuhr prayers at Jinnah Ground and he will be laid to rest at the Shuhada Graveyard in Yaseenabad, according to the MQM. The Rabita Committee has appealed to citizens to attend his funeral.

Shoaib was elected as an MPA several times and held various ministries as well. He also served as the MQM's deputy parliamentary leader in the Sindh Assembly. In 1997 he held the portfolio of education and labour, while between 2002 and 2007 he served as provincial minister for development.

Between 2008 and 2013, he served as the minister of the bureau of supply and prices. During the 2013 elections, however, he was not awarded a ticket by the party due to his deteriorating health, said MQM spokesperson Aminul Haque.

The members of the MQM's Rabita Committee had visited him in the hospital and convener Nadeem Nusrat and MQM chief Altaf Hussain had expressed concern over his health while he was hospitalised.

"Being a senior lawyer, he dealt with legal issues and matters of the party," said Haque. "His services cannot be ignored, as he played a crucial role in the party," said a statement issued by the Rabita Committee.

During his time with the MQM, Shoaib also served a jail term of around three-and-a-half years after he was arrested from the party headquarters, Nine Zero, in 1998. However, he was later acquitted in all the cases and released from prison.

Shoaib is survived by his wife, with whom he had no children. His younger brother, Fuzail Bukhari, told The Express Tribune that Shoaib's health had been deteriorating since 2010 when he suffered a stroke. Since February 2016, he frequently visited hospitals due to his illness, which left him paralysed on his left side. Fuzail stated that Shoaib had dedicated his entire life to public service and had always performed his duties honestly and truthfully.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2016.