Tragedy: PPP MNA Azeem Daultana dies in car accident

Funeral prayers offered at the venue picked out for his wedding ceremony.

VEHARI: In a tragic car accident on Tuesday, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA and parliamentary secretary for defence Azeem Daultana breathed his last.

The horrific incident occurred at 3 am when the car he was in, along with his driver and gunman, rolled over twice or thrice until it crashed into a tree, eyewitnesses told the police.

Daulatana was headed to Luddan from Multan.

Critically injured, the passengers were being shifted to the Vehari district hospital; however, they died on the way. Daultana was supposed to get married to the niece of Begum Belum Husnain, the PPP Punjab women wing president.

Daultana was journeying to make catering arrangements for his wedding, his father told The Express Tribune. The ceremony was scheduled to take place at the government high school in Luddan, but on Tuesday, Daultana’s funeral prayers were offered there instead.

Thousands from Vehari and southern Punjab attended the funeral prayers. Traders unions announced a three-day mourning period for Daultana.

Born on April 4, 1979, Doultana began his political career with the local body elections in 2006 when he was elected mayor of Luddan.

In the 2008 general elections, he was given the NA-168 seat from Vehari by the PPP. This was a major victory for him and the PPP as Daultana grabbed the seat by defeating his aunt Tehmeena Daultana of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Ishaq Khakwani of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

Daultana was the grandson of Punjab’s former chief minister Mumtaz Daultana.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2012.