Farmers’ leader Liaqat Yousafzai passes away

SWABI: Liaqat Yousafzai, a prominent leader of farmers, passed away due to cardiac arrest here on Monday, said his family and leaders of the farming community.

He suffered a heart attack and was taken to a private hospital in Karnal Sher Killay, where the doctors pronounced him dead. He was 54 and belonged to Mathra village in Razaar tehsil.

Late Liaqat Yousafzai was a member of the central working committee of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) and a close associate of PTM’s central leader Manzoor Pashteen.He also remained the central general secretary of Swabi Qaumi Mahaz (SQM).

Liaqat Yousafzai was the founder of Kashtkar Coordination Council, Tobacco Growers Association, Pakistan, and was well aware of the Pakistan Tobacco Board’s affairs.His colleagues said that he was the architect of the numerous movements that emerged in the Swabi district, and no movement had succeeded without him to yield the desired results.

He had brought together all leaders of the farmers on a single platform many times and fought unitedly for the rights of the growers.His colleagues said Liaqat Yousafzai knew the art of parleys and jirgas and how a result-oriented negotiation could be held with representatives of multinational and national companies.

Earlier, the funeral prayer for the deceased was offered at his native Mathra village, and later he was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard.He left behind a widow and a son to mourn his death.