MNA Munir Orakzai dies due to cardiac arrest

SADDA: Member National Assembly (MNA) Munir Khan Orakzai passed away due to cardiac arrest early Tuesday. He was 61.

His funeral prayer was held at Mandori village in Kurram tribal district. He was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard. A large number of people hailing from different walks of life attended his Namaz-e-Janaza. The deceased MNA’s nephew Irfanullah Khan Orakzai said that the members of the family tried to wake him up early in the morning for Fajr prayer but he did not respond.

He said he was then rushed to the Tall Hospital in the adjacent Hangu district where the doctors pronounced him dead. Munir Orakzai is survived by his widow, five daughters and a son. Munir Orakzai had contested the 2018 general election on the ticket of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) from the NA-45 Kurram constituency and won the seat with a good margin. This was the fourth time that he won from this constituency.

In the previous three elections, he was elected MNA as an independent candidate.

In 2018, he joined the JUI-F and was re-elected. The deceased was a polite and humble person who always helped the poor and solved the problems of the people.

Munir Orakzai had recovered from Covid-19 recently. He had tested positive for the coronavirus in April but made a full recovery. He was tested negative for the disease on May 8 and became active in public life again. During a recent session of the National Assembly, he collapsed reportedly due to a drop in his blood pressure and was rushed to the hospital. He later recovered and again resumed his activities.

Munir Orakzai had survived a bomb explosion at an election meeting of the JUI-F in central Kurram on May 7. 2013 in which more than 20 persons were martyred and 75 were wounded. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had claimed responsibility for the attack and said their target was Munir Orakzai as he was a supporter of the government, which had ordered military action against them.

However, Munir Orakzai ruled out the involvement of the TTP in the attack and said he had no enmity with anyone. He blamed his rivals for the attack as they were scared of his popularity. After the terrorist attack, he had announced that he would pay from his own pocket Rs500,000 each to all those killed in the incident and Rs100,000 to every injured person and also bear the expenses of their treatment.

Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and Awami National Party head Asfandyar Wali Khan in their separate statements expressed grief and sorrow over the demise of Munir Orakzai and offered condolences to his family.