ISLAMABAD - Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) leader and former senator Usman Khan Kakar passed away in Karachi on Monday.

He was under treatment at a local hospital. Kakar was shifted to Karachi via an air ambulance from Quetta. 

Usman Kakar’s last rituals would be offered in his native town Muslim Bagh on Wednesday, June 23rd, according to a news release issued by PkMAP. Body of deceased would be taken to Quetta via Khuzdar on Tuesday. The Lower House of the Parliament on Monday offered Fateha for the departed soul of PkMAP leader Usman Kakar.

Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali led the Fateha and prayed Almighty to rest the departed soul at eternal peace and grant courage to the family of the bereaved to bear the loss with equanimity. Separately, the opposition senators on Monday voiced concerns over the ‘mysterious’ circumstances surrounding the death of leader of Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and former senator Usman Khan Kakar and demanded a probe to determine the real cause of the death.  The opposition lawmakers expressed their suspicions before the house passed a unanimous resolution that paid tributes to the politician from Balochistan for the “services rendered by him for supremacy of the parliament and democracy in letter and spirit.”

Family members want post-mortem, a house committee for independent inquiry into matter

On June 21, Kakar passed away at a hospital in Karachi apparently due to head injury. His family members had found him injured while lying on the floor at his residence in Quetta. 

A number of lawmakers paid glowing tributes to Kakar for being the voice of the voiceless, and for his struggle for civil supremacy, and rule of law. JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza said that his family members were demanding post-mortem and demanded that a house committee should be formed for an independent inquiry into the matter. He said that questions were being raised on how he received a fatal injury, as he was alone at his house at the time of the incident. 

PPP Senator Saleem Mandviwalla said Kakar’s family believed his death was a “murder”. He said doctors had shown doubts about how such abundant bleeding in his head caused by a mere fall. He demanded that provincial governments of Sindh and Balochistan should conduct a thorough probe into his death.  JUI-F Senator Ataur Rahman also underscored the need for an investigation to dig out the truth. He said Kakar used to challenge the establishment and had received threats. He said efforts had been made in the past as well to suppress the voices of dissent. 

Former police officer and PML-N senator Rana Maqbool said the information earlier received about Kakar suggested that he either had brain hemorrhage, but later it emerged he received an injury. He said that this was a question mark and called for an investigation to ascertain the facts. 

His party colleague Senator Kamran Michael also said that the grievances of the family must be addressed and a committee should be formed to investigate the matter.  National Party Senator Muhammad Akram said the sudden death of Kakar was under mysterious circumstances.   Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights Senator Walid Iqbal said his committee was ready to investigate the matter. 

Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani informed the house that medical teams were conducting an autopsy of the dead body on the family’s request. 

As the house passed two human right bills, Parliamentary Leader of PPP in the House Senator Sherry Rehman criticized the PTI government for its ambiguity on former Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden. 

“How can he be declared a martyr when he is responsible for the deaths of thousands? Osama Bin Laden is a terrorist and anyone who says otherwise is belittling the sacrifice Pakistan made in eliminating Al Qaeda from the region,” she remarked.