Ex-governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah laid to rest with state honours

KOHAT: Former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor, retired Lt-General Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah was laid to rest with state honours at the Haji Bahadur Baba graveyard here on Monday.

His namaz-e-janaza was offered at the Qila Ground. People from different walks of life, including federal ministers, politicians, civil and military officials attended the last funeral rites of the deceased. It may be mentioned here that late Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, who served as governor for four and a half years during the rule of General Pervez Musharraf in the 2000s, had been suffering from a heart ailment for quite some time.

He had also suffered a paralysis attack some four years back. On Sunday he had a cardiac arrest which proved fatal. The deceased is survived by a widow and three daughters. Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah was commissioned in the Pakistan Army in October 1984. He served in an anti-aircraft unit of the Artillery Regiment.

He held a number of senior positions, including the deputy director general external wing of the Inter-Services Intelligence. After his retirement from the army in 2000, he was appointed federal minister for communication and then as governor of the province. Subsequently, he remained Pakistan’s ambassador to Turkey and as an advisor to the United Nations in Pakistan. He joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in May 2016, but was disenchanted with the party later. In the 2018 general election, he sought the PTI ticket for contesting for a National Assembly seat and also KP Assembly seat in his native Kohat. He was denied the ticket and contested as an independent candidate for the provincial assembly seat. However, he lost to PTI’s Ziaullah Bangash. Meanwhile, Governor Shah Farman expressed grief and sorrow over the sad demise of Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah. In his condolence message, the governor offered heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved family.

He prayed to Allah Almighty for the eternal peace of the departed soul and give courage to the bereaved family to bear this irreparable loss with patience. The governor said the deceased would be remembered forever for his services to the province in general and the tribal areas in particular. Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and a number of other politicians also condoled his death and praised his services for the province.