LONDON: Former Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) member Saleem Shehzad lost his battle to cancer and passed away on Sunday in West London Hospital.
It was reported that Shehzad was admitted to the hospital on Friday and was under treatment. However, his condition deteriorated. He leaves behind five daughters and his widow.
His family said that Shehzad will be laid to rest on Tuesday in London.
In 2015, Shehzad was diagnosed with liver and kidney cancer.
A former confidante of MQM chief Altaf Hussain, Shahzad after a split in the party had announced support for Farooq Sattar. Shehzad left Pakistan in 1992 in order to avoid action against him in the Karachi operation ongoing at the time and returned to the country after a 24-year long self-imposed exile in 2017.
In 1979, Shehzad, a student of Urdu Science College, joined the Mohajir Student Organisation. In 1984, he became vice chairman of the newly-found Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) and three years later, he was elected as a councillor in the local body polls.
He was elected as a member of the National Assembly twice in 1988 and 1990 and left the country following the start of a military operation against the party in 1992. He was sidelined by Altaf Hussain, the party’s founder leader, in 2010. From 1992-2010, Shehzad served as a Coordination Committee Member for the party.
In 2014, MQM revoked his party membership when he pointed out a corrupt lobby within the MQM. In 2006, Shehzad wrote a book titled Shahoor Ka Safar to shed light on the creation of the MQM and growth of the party from June 11, 1978, to June 19, 1992.
