Amin Fahim’s demise saddens all and sundry

• President, PM, PPP leadership, other politicians offer heartfelt condolences

The president, prime minister, Pakistan People’s Party leadership and other political leaders expressed profound grief and sorrow over the sad demise of veteran political leader and PPP parliamentarian Makhdoom Amin Fahim on Saturday.

Extending his sympathies, President Mamnoon Hussain prayed to Almighty Allah to grant eternal peace to the departed soul and solace to the bereaved family.

Offering his condolences to the bereaved family, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif prayed for eternal peace and tranquility of the departed soul.

In a statement issued Saturday, PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed deep grief and sorrow over the demise of Fahim.

Paying glowing tribute to his senior party leader, former president and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari said Fahim was “a great pillar of strength for the party, a steadfast political loyalist and a person of great dignity and grace whom adversities failed to shake”. He said the death of Fahim created a void that would be hard to fill for a long time. He said Fahim’s demise was a great loss to his family members as well as the party.

Separately, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Punjab Governor Malik Muhammad Rafique Rajwana expressed sorrow over the demise of Fahim and offered condolences to the bereaved family.

Former prime ministers Yousaf Raza Gilani and Raja Parvez Ashraf, PPP Punjab President Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, Opposition Leader in National Assembly Khursheed Ahmed Shah, Islamuddin Shaikh, Noman Islam Shaikh, Dr Nafeesa Shah, Dr Mahreen Bhutto and other PPP leaders also expressed deep sorrow over the sad demise of Fahim.

Expressing his grief over the death of the senior PPP leader, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid said, “Today we have lost one of the symbols and models of decency.” He said Fahim’s role in the struggle for the restoration of democracy along with his political services would be long remembered.

Offering heartfelt condolences over the demise of Fahim, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid President and former prime minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, former deputy prime minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and PML-Q central leader Moonis Elahi prayed to Almighty Allah to rest the departed soul in peace and grant solace to the bereaved family.

Senior PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi also expressed grief over the death of the veteran politician, saying Fahim was a steadfast face of the PPP when its leadership was in exile. He said his death was a great loss to the country.

National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi, also expressed profound grief over the demise of Fahim. In their separate messages to Fahim’s son Makhdoom Khaliqus Zaman, they said Fahim was a politician of high repute and he had rendered valuable contributions to the legislative business. They said his services for the promotion of democracy and supremacy of the constitution would be remembered for a long time to come.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker Sardar Ghulam Sadiq also expressed deep grief over the demise of senior PPP leader Amin Fahim.