Seasoned politician and Naib Amir of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Professor Ghafoor Ahmad was laid to rest at Sakhi Hassan graveyard on Thursday. The aged politician passed away the other day. He was 85. He was suffering poor health for the last two years. Chief of JI, Syed Munawwar Hassan led the funeral prayers of Professor Ghafoor outside Idarae Noor-e-Haq on New M.A. Jinnah Road, which thousands of people attended.
Those who were present at the funeral of the late JI leader were: former JI Chief Qazi Hussain, former DG ISI, General (Retd) Hamid Gul, Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, Maulana Ahmad Ludhyaniwi, Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, Shaikh Rashid Ahmad, Assadullah Bhutto, Muhammad Hussain Mehanti, Saleem Zia, Naimatullah Khan Advocate, Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah, Shamshad Ghori, Imtiaz Shaikh, Haleem Adil Shaikh, Mufti Usman Yar Khan, Arif Alvi, Kanwar Younus Khalid, Ghous Ali Shah, Adeeb Rizvi, Yousuf Masti Khan, Yaseen Azad, Aslam Ghori, Allama Syed Ali Muhammad Naqvi, Allama Yousuf Hussain, Allama Ather Mashadi, administrator Karachi Muhammad Hussain, Ahmad Shah and a large number of people from different walks of life.
Professor Ghafoor Ahmad is survived by two sons and six daughters, besides millions of party activists to mourn his death. He was born in Bareli city of Uttar Pradesh (UP), India on June 26, 1927. He received his early education in his native town and completed his Master's Degree in Commerce from Lucknow University in 1948.
He was associated with teaching and also worked at different industrial organisations. In 1950, at the age of 23 he joined the JI and served the party as Karachi chapter Amir. Till his death he remained steadfast member of the JI. He served twice as member of National Assembly from Karachi in 1970 and 1977. He also remained as senator from Karachi.
In 1973, he served as member of the constitutional committee. He remained secretary of the United Democratic Alliance and Pakistan National Unity. He was part of a team which held negotiation with former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto just before Ziaul Haq's martial law in the country. In 1978, he served as federal minister for industries and production. From 1988 till 1992, he remained general secretary of Islami Jamhoria Ittehad. Professor Ghafoor Ahmad authored five books on politics of the country. He was the vice Amir of the party.