Aamir Liaquat’s funeral to be performed after Asr prayers
By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 04 Jan 2023
Funeral prayers of PTI lawmaker and television host Dr Aamir Liaquat Hussain, who passed away on Thursday afternoon, were delayed on Friday afternoon as a deadlock between his family and the government over the lawmaker’s postmortem persisted.
The police surgeon, Dr Summaiya Tariq, has left the morgue after examining Aamir’s body in the presence of family and rescue services head Ramzan Chhipa.
Police surgeon has examined the body for around 30 to 40 minutes.
A judicial magistrate had directed the police surgeon to conduct an autopsy of the popular televangelist before he can be buried next to his parents in Karachi’s Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine.
Earlier, the police had barred the morgue from releasing Aamir’s body and had advised the family to approach the court if they wanted to bury the lawmaker, who had been found dead at home in mysterious circumstances, without an autopsy.
Subsequently, Aamir’s family approached the court to seek custody of his body. But the process was delayed as court authorities left due to Friday prayers, Irfan-ul-Haq has reported.
Controversy
Even as Aamir’s family negotiated with police for custody of his body, there was trouble afoot after Aamir’s third wife, Dania Shah approached the morgue to seek custody of his body.
Aamir’s family had said that his final rites will be performed and his funeral will be offered after Friday prayers which will be followed by his burial, which will take place in the vicinity of Abdullah Shah Ghazi.
No autopsy
She further stated that Aamir’s children have decided against conducting an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death of their father.
“Ahmed Aamir and Duaa-e-Aamir have taken the decision to not have the body go through a postmortem and his body will be taken to its final destination in peace and calm,” she added.
“May Allah forgive him [Aamir], bless the departed soul and have mercy upon him granting him the highest rand in Jannah,” the televangelist’s wife prayed for the departed soul.
Ahmed reached mortuary
Meanwhile, Aamir’s son, Ahmed, who was living in London for studies, has reached the mortuary, run by welfare organization, Chhipa Friday afternoon. The family was waiting for his arrival for the funeral prayers.
Dua and Ahmed tried to negotiate with police officials to allow them to bury the body without a postmortem.
The police, however, have refused to hand over the body, urging them to approach the court as the investigation has been launched under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
The section is a legal provision that deals with the procedure that the police and the magistrate need to follow in cases of suicide and unnatural death.
“When a person does not die due to the natural circumstances, a person is considered victim of unnatural death. Some of the causes of unnatural deaths are accidental death, murders, animal attack, complications of surgery, suicide and many more.”
Police asks the family to approach court
Earlier in the day, Sindh police had told the morgue not to hand over Dr Aamir Liaquat’s body, asking them to hand over the body to the Brigade Police Station.
The family members were directed to get permission from the court first only then they would be allowed to take the body without an autopsy.
Aamir’s final resting place
As per his wishes, Aamir is expected to be buried next to his father Sheikh Liaquat Hussain and mother Mehmooda Sultana at one of the three graveyards located inside Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s tomb shrine in Karachi.
In this regards, preparations began at the shrine late on Thursday for Aamir’s burial.
Caretakers and undertakers at the tomb started digging and fortifying the grave.
Although people are allowed to attend the funeral, no one, except for the family and selected people, will be allowed inside the graveyard where the 50-year-old will be laid to rest.
Sudden death
According to the police, Aamir’s condition suddenly deteriorated on Thursday morning. His staff rushed him to the Aga Khan University Hospital after finding him lying motionless in his bedroom. Doctors at the hospital examined Aamir and pronounced him dead upon arrival.
Aamir’s maternal cousin said that the MNA was suffering from “severe depression”.
“He was deeply disturbed and was in a state of a shock, especially after his [most recent] videos went viral,” he said.
Aamir, he said, had distanced himself from all his relatives following a series of disturbing events in his personal life.
Who else is buried at Abdullah Shah Ghazi graveyard?
Other famous personalities who are buried in the compound of Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine include:
• Allama Shah Ahmed Noorani of JUP
• Sultana Mehmood, mother of PTI leader Aamir Liaquat Hussain
• Shaikh Liaquat, former MQM MNA and father of Aamir Liaquat
• Prof Karrar Hussain, father of Taj Haider, PPP leader
• Shireen Jinnah, sister of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah & Fatima Jinnah
• Khursheed Ahmed, famous Na’at Khawun
• Omer Sharif, legendary comedian
Televangelist to the politician
The lawmaker was born on July 5, 1971, in Karachi, to politician Sheikh Liaquat Hussain and columnist Mahmooda Sultana.
Aamir started his career as a news anchor in 2001 and rose to fame for hosting a religious programme, Aalim Online, at a private TV channel. It spawned a career as a televangelist which lasted for over two decades.
In 2002, he contested his first election as a key leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement for the parliamentary constituency of NA-249 in Karachi. He was inducted into Shaukat Aziz’s cabinet as the Minister of State for Religious Affairs.
It wasn’t until August 2016 that he parted ways with the party. He later joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 2018 and was elected as an MNA from Karachi in the general elections while contesting on a PTI ticket.
However, soon, differences emerged between Aamir and other PTI leaders. This manifested fully during the no-confidence motion against the then prime minister Imran Khan in April 2022.
