Kheshgi villagers mourn a respectable elder’s death

PESHAWAR: Pir Nasrullah Khan, who embodied Pakhtun traditions and Islamic values, passed away at the age of 75 last Friday.
He left behind a widow, five sons and four daughters to mourn his death.Though not a practicing Pir (faith healer), Nasrullah Khan commanded a great deal of respect among his fellow clansmen and villagers in Kheshgi village in Nowshera district.
People would come to him from far and wide to draw spiritual satisfaction and get treatment for certain illnesses.Though Pir Nasrullah had not aligned himself with any political party as he preferred to work as a social worker and arbitrator to help solve disputes among the people, he respected politicians of all hues.
To his credit, he resolved many old feuds through jirgas. Being president of the Village Development Organisation, he carried out development and social work in the area. Born into a family of farmers in 1940, Nasrullah Khan lost his mother in his early age, but he had vivid memory and picture of her in his mind till his death.
He gave a helping hand to his father Mir Alam Khan at a young age and started his small business.Though he couldn’t continue formal education, he learnt the holy Quran and Islamic lessons from Raghdanullah Ustad and Sharf Din Ustad who had graduated from the Darul Uloom Deoband in India.
He had performed Hajj and Umrah and was the chairman of Musalihati Jirga of Kheshgi village till his death.Pir Nasrullah used to proudly mention his meetings with revered freedom fighter Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan) when he was under house arrest at the Rest House in Kheshgi Lift Irrigation Project in Kheshgi village.
He also used to praise late chief minister Abdul Qayyum Khan for establishing canals and irrigation system in Kheshgi village that brought hundreds of acres of barren land under cultivation.
He also had fond memories of late Qazi Hussain Ahmad, who used to visit the village and lead prayers in the local mosques.Pir Nasrullah had great respect for religious scholars and institutions. He laid the foundation of three mosques in the village by donating precious land for the purpose.
He had reserved a portion of his Hujra for the small children from his neighbourhood to learn the holy Quran. Having a powerful physique, Pir Nasrullah never seriously fell ill in his life, but he was diagnosed with a fatal disease in his liver-carcinoma after being examined by a specialist doctor in Mardan in January this year.
His elder son Pir Darwesh Kheshgi said the doctors had told them that Pir Sahib had no chance of recovery when the result of his medical tests from Peshawar and Islamabad arrived. “We were advised to take him home,” he recalled.
“Miraculously when we reached home Gul Baba (Pir Nasrullah) had no pain in his chest. He regularly prayed at the mosque and met people at his Hujra before his death on February 20,” recalled Pir Darwesh, a lawyer by profession.
Before his death, Pir Nasrullah went into coma on Thursday and breathed his last early Friday (February 20) in his bed in Mohalla Pir Koroona in Kheshgi village.He was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard the same day. Hundreds of people, including villagers, friends, relatives and well-wishers, attended his funeral prayer.
Besides others, Awami National Party secretary general Mian Iftikhar Hussain and Syed Aqil Shah, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Asif Luqman Qazi, Qaumi Watan Party’s provincial chief Sikander Sherpao, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Dr Imran Khattak and Mian Jamsheduddin Kakakhel, Ishaq Khattak, Pakistan People’s Party’s Mian Muzaffar Shah, Qaumi Watan Party’s Syed Afzal Shah and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s Waleed Akhtar turned up to offer condolences and attend his funeral prayer. Journalists, lawyers, policemen and teachers also attended the Nimaz-i-Janaza in large numbers as Pir Nasrullah’s sons included a journalist, a lawyer, a police officer and a lawyer.
Pir Nasrullah was the elder brother of Haji Said Mali Khan and Haji Raz Ali Khan and father of Baroz Khan, SHO Nizampur, Pir Darwesh Kheshgi Advocate, Mohammad Wakeel Khan, Khalid Khan Kheshgi, and Pir Hamid, lecturer in Fine Arts.