KARACHI, Dec 26: Veteran politician and Naib Amir of Jamaat-i-Islami Prof Ghafoor Ahmad died here on Wednesday evening after a protracted illness. He was 85 and leaves behind three sons and six daughters.

His funeral prayer will be offered at the party’s Karachi office Idara Noor-i-Haq on Thursday at about 4.30pm. He will be laid to rest in Sakhi Hasan graveyard.

Prof Ghafoor was born on June 26, 1927, in Bareli, India. He did his B.Com from Agra University and M.Com from Lucknow University and served for some time as lecturer in Islamia College, Lucknow. Later he completed the Industrial Accounts course and was made a fellow of the Institute of Cost and Management Accounts.

Prof Ghafoor worked as an accountant in different business and commercial concerns from 1953 to 56. As an associate lecturer he taught in a number of institutions.

Prof Ghafoor joined Jamaat-i-Islami in 1950 and in 1958 he was elected a councilor of the Karachi Municipal Corporation, along with 18 other members of the party.

His performance earned him the office of Amir JI Karachi and membership of Majlis-i-Shoora, the highest decision-making body of the party.

Prof Ghafoor was arrested along with other party leaders when Jamaat-i-Islami was banned by Gen Ayub Khan in 1964. He spent nine months in jail and was released after the court declared the ban illegal.

He was elected a member to the National Assembly in the country’s first general election in 1970. After the secession of East Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto became first civilian chief martial law administrator and Prof Ghafoor as a member of the opposition played an important role in sorting out basic issues of the 1973 Constitution.

He was made secretary general of the Pakistan National Alliance in 1977 after its first secretary general Rafique Ahmad Bajwa’s secret contact with the PPP leadership was exposed. During the PNA movement of 1977 he was arrested and put in solitary confinement until Mr Bhutto agreed to hold negotiations with the opposition.

Prof Ghafoor played an important role in the negotiations, along with Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan and Mufti Mehmood. The talks lasted months and when a draft was agreed upon to resolve the poll rigging issue the army intervened and imposed martial law.

He was a member of the federal cabinet for some time in 1978 and secretary general of Islami Jamhoori Ittehad from 1988 to 1992. He was also a member of the Senate.

Prof Ghafoor wrote a number of books on political development of the country, including Phir Martial Law Agya, Aur Elections Na Hosake, Benazir Bhutto Ka Pehla Daur-i-Hokumat, Benazir Ka Urooj Aur Zawal, Pervez Musharraf Army House Se Aiwan-i-Saddar Tak and Nawaz Sharif Iqtidar Se Ataab Tak.