Qazi laid to rest in Ziarat Kaka Sahib

PESHAWAR: Thousands of people attended the funeral for former Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad here on Sunday.He was later laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard in Ziarat Kaka Sahib village in Nowshera district amid moving scenes.

A large number of people from across the country turned up for the funeral in the provincial metropolis. Leaders of different political parties and former Afghan mujahideen figures along with a huge number of mourners and party workers attended the funeral prayers led by the JI chief Syed Munawwar Hassan. Members of minority communities were also seen paying their last respects to the senior politician.

Jinnah Park had earlier been declared as the venue for the funeral, but in view of traffic hazards and huge number of participants it was changed to a spacious ground near the Motorway Chowk. Many mourners were seen crying, while some resorted to sloganeering despite strict directives from the stage not to chant slogans. After the funeral prayers, when the body was being shifted to the ambulance, some workers started the one-time popular JI slogan “Hum Betey Kis Ke: Qazi Ke” (We are all Qazi’s sons).

The Ring Road near the venue of the funeral remained closed for hours due to the unprecedented number of vehicles and pedestrians.

Prominent among those who attended the funeral were Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, prominent orator of the Tableeghi Jamaat Maulana Tariq Jameel, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) president Javed Hashmi, head of the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Aftab Sherpao, chairman Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Mahmood Khan Achakzai, chief of Isha’at Tauhid-wal-Sunnah Maulana Tayyeb Tahiri, former prime minister Azad Kashmir Sardar Atiqur Rehman, senior JUI-F leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, Federal Railways Minister and Awami National Party (ANP) leader Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, deputy president of the JI Prof Khursheed Ahmad, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Siddiqul Farooq, Pir Sabir Shah and Amir Muqam, leader of Tehrik-e-Jafriya Sajid Naqvi and former ISI chief Lt Gen (R) Hameed Gul.

Some of the leaders present on the occasion spoke briefly before the Nimaz-e-Janaza. Syed Munawwar Hassan burst into tears during his speech and made many others cry. He termed the demise of Qazi Hussain Ahmad a great loss for the country, the party and the entire Muslim Ummah.

Asif Luqman Qazi, elder son of Qazi Hussain Ahmad, said he did not feel his father have left two sons and two daughters, but hundreds of thousands of followers who were no less than his real sons.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman said Qazi Hussain Ahmad had rendered great services for unity of Muslim Ummah and religious forces in the country. He said Qazi Sahib remained politically active till death and the vacuum created due to his demise would never be filled.

People were lined up on the roads along Pabbi, Azakhel, Khat Killay, Nowshera Cantonment and Ziarat Kaka Sahib when the body was being shifted from Peshawar to his village for burial. The flow of traffic on the Grand Trunk Road was disrupted because of the great rush of vehicles proceeding towards Ziarat Kaka Sahib.

Born in Ziarat Kaka Sahib, Nowshera in 1938, Qazi Hussain Ahmad received early education from his father Qazi Abdul Rab. He did his graduation from Islamia College, Peshawar and MSc in Geography from the University of Peshawar. On completion of his education, he joined the University of Peshawar as lecturer and served for three years.

He joined the Islami Jamiat Talaba as a university student in 1960s. After tendering resignation from his university job in 1970, Qazi started his own business in Peshawar and became member of the JI. He served as JI president for Peshawar city, then district and later provincial president of the party.

In 1978, he was made central secretary general of JI and in 1987 he was chosen as central head of the party. He remained central president of JI for 22 long years in four consecutive terms. He was elected as senator in 1985, and again in 1992. However, he later resigned as senator in protest against the government policies. Qazi Hussain Ahmad won election on two National Assembly constituencies in 2002 from Nowshera and Dir.

He played a key role in formation of the religious parties’ alliance — Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal — and served as its chief after the death of Maulana Shah Ahmad Noorani. He was currently the president of Milli Yakjehti Council.

Unlike his predecessors, he remained active in politics even after relinquishing charge as JI chief in 2009. He had recently survived a suicide attack in Mohmand tribal agency where he addressed a party gathering.

He is survived by a widow, two sons and two daughters.

Our correspondents/agencies add: President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Chairman Senate Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari, Deputy Chairman Sabir Ali Baloch, Speaker National Assembly Fehmida Mirza, Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi, president ANP Asfandyar Wali Khan, MQM chief Altaf Hussain, PTI chairman Imran Khan, TMQ chief Dr Tahirul Qadri, Leader of the House in Senate Jahangir Badr, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira, PML-Q Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed and Minister for Postal Services Sardar Muhammad Umar Gorgaij have expressed profound grief and sorrow over the demise of former Qazi Hussain Ahmad.

In their separate condolence messages, they termed Qazi Hussain Ahmad’s demise a great loss for the religious and political spectrum of the country. They lauded his services as a prolific religious scholar and a veteran politician who served his party with strong devotion, dedication and commitment leading it for over two decades.

They expressed sympathies with the bereaved family. They prayed that Almighty Allah rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant courage to the bereaved family to bear this loss with equanimity.

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