LAHORE - One of the founding members of the PPP Dr Mubashir Hasan passed away on Saturday morning after protracted illness. He was 98.

He breathed his last at the place where he co-founded the PPP along with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in November 1967. Foundation stone of the PPP was laid at the Gulberg residence (4-k) of Dr Mubashir Hassan who was also one of key members of the party along with J.A. Rahim and Sheikh Mohammad Rashid.

Dr Hasan was survived by his wife Dr Zeenat Hussain. He was laid to rest at Bagh-e-Rehmat graveyard on Bedian Road, Lahore Cantonment on Saturday evening. People from all walks of life including PPP leaders, intellectuals and friends attended his funeral prayer.

Ch Aslam Gill, Navid Chaudhry, Azizur Rehman Chan, Altaf Qureshi, Barrister Amir Hasan, I.A Rehman, Hussain Naqi and Sohail Goindi were prominent on the occasion.

Born in Panipat, India, Hasan did his BSc in civil engineering from Punjab University in 1947 prior to the birth of Pakistan. He later joined the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore where he taught courses in civil engineering.

After his election as member of the National Assembly in 1970, he was appointed as finance minister in Bhutto's cabinet. He served as minister from 1971-74. Though he resigned as finance minister over differences with Z.A Bhutto but he remained loyal to his leader till his assassination.

Dr Hasan had a valuable contribution in country’s nuclear programme as he arranged funding for the project and also helped establish the Kahuta Research Laboratories. He was also remembered for his services he rendered in the establishment of the Ministry of Science in 1972.  Following the assassination of Z.A Bhutto, Dr Mubashir developed differences with the new leadership and left the party. He later joined a new faction of the party founded by Ghinwa Bhutto with the nomenclature of PPP-Shaheed Bhutto. He served as head of Punjab chapter of this new party for two decades. He retired from active politics three years back as his health condition did not allow him to continue his routine activities.

From 2000 to 2010, Dr Hasan played active in normalization of relations between Indian and Pakistan. He was a staunch supporter of people-to-people contacts between the two countries on the platform of Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy. He was one of the founding members of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

He authored over 10 books on different subjects using his expertise as a seasoned politician, a civil engineer, a scientist, and a writer. He contributed several articles in English dailies to express his opinion on the political matters.

Meanwhile, PPP's Punjab chapter also condoled the death of its old comrade.