LONDON: Veteran Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Mohammad Anwar passed away in London on Friday morning after a brief battle against cancer, his family said in a statement.
“Our beloved dad, Mohammad Anwar, passed away peacefully early this morning at 3:45 am,” said the family.
Anwar’s family said he was diagnosed with cancer four months ago and was being treated at London’s Royal Free Hospital. They added that Anwar had passed away at the hospital.
“He was the most loving husband, father, grandfather and father-in-law. He was always full of love, affection and was a pillar of strength for our entire family,” said the statement.
Anwar leaves behind a wife and three daughters.
Anwar lived in London and was part of the MQM since 1989. His association with party chief Altaf Hussain spans two decades. He was also a member of the MQM’s coordination committee, also known as Rabita Committee.
Anwar was nominated in several cases including the Imran Farooq murder case. He was also probed in a money laundering case by the London Metropolitan Police.
In 2015, he was sacked from the MQM Rabita Committee due to his continued illness, which had often caused him to “remain absent from crucial meetings”.
In the same year, Anwar was named in a sedition case lodged in Karachi. The case was registered a day after an anti-terrorism court declared MQM chief Altaf Hussain a proclaimed offender in a case of criminal intimidation.
