Mufti Abdul Shakoor, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, died in a car accident in the federal capital on Saturday.
Police said on Twitter that the minister’s car was “hit by a Hilux Revo” while he was travelling from Mariott towards the Secretariat Chowk.
وفاقی وزیر مذہبی امور مولانا عبدالشکور سڑک حادثہ میں جاں بحق ہوگئے۔
مولانا عبدالشکور میریٹ سے سیکرٹریٹ چوک کی طرف جارہے تھے۔
ہائی لکس ریوو جس میں پانچ آدمی سوار تھے نے مولانا عبدالشکور کی گاڑی کو ٹکر ماری۔⏬
— Islamabad Police (@ICT_Police) April 15, 2023
Five people were travelling in the Hilux Revo and they, along with their vehicle, have been taken into custody, police added.
Meanwhile, Mufti Abdul Shakoor was shifted to Poly Clinic Hospital, but he didn’t survive the accident and died, the police statement said.
It is not clear yet whether the minister was travelling alone or there were other passengers in his car.
Mufti Shakoor was an MNA of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) from the erstwhile tribal areas.
Condolences
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed sorrow and regret over Mufti Shakoor’s demise, a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said.
The premier extended his condolences to the deceased’s family and prayed for him, the statement said, adding that Shakoor was one of the “dynamic and ideological leaders” of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl and a good person.
PM Shehbaz praised his performance as the religious affairs minister.
Separately, the premier tweeted from his account that he was deeply saddened to hear about the “sudden death of my friend, colleague and an important member of the cabinet, Mufti Abdul Shakoor”.
The premier remembered him as a “practising scholar, an ideological political activist and a pious person”.
میرے دوست، ساتھی اور کابینہ کے اہم رکن مفتی عبدالشکور صاحب کی اچانک موت کا سن کا شدید دکھ اور تکلیف ہوئی۔ وہ ایک باعمل عالم، نظریاتی سیاسی کارکن اور نیک انسان تھے۔ اللہ تعالٰی مرحوم کی مغفرت اور لواحقین کو صبر عطا فرمائے
انا لله و انا الیه راجعون
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) April 15, 2023
PTI leaders Fawad Chaudhry and Faisal Javed also extended their condolences and prayed for Mufti Shakoor.
’اِنَّا لِلّٰہِ وَاِنَّآ اِلَیْہِ رَاجِعُوْنَ۔۔۔۔ خدا غریق رحمت کرے https://t.co/GE1HewHC3I
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) April 15, 2023
He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan as a candidate of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) from Constituency NA-51 (Tribal Area-XII) in the 2018 Pakistani general election. He received 21,896 votes and defeated Qaiser Jamal.
