Abdul Sattar Afghani ( ur, عبدالستار افغانی; 6 July 1930 – 4 November 2006) was a politician from Karachi,

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. He was twice elected

Mayor of Karachi Mayor of Karachi (Urdu: ) is the executive of the Karachi metropolitan corporation and the Karachi local government system of the city of Karachi which is the third tier of governance in Pakistan after Federal and provincial governments. Pre ...

and once an elected member of the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, Romanization, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower house, lower legislative house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which al ...

(MNA).

Background

Afghani had

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

-speaking Afghan Tajik heritage; his ancestors migrated from Jalalabad, Afghanistan, and settled in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

and

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

. Afghani's family were residents of Karachi's

Lyari Lyari (Urdu: ; sd, لیاري) is a historic locality in Karachi, Pakistan. It is the most densely-populated part of Karachi, and is one of its earliest settled areas.Sarwat Viqar (2014) Constructing Lyari: place, governance and identity in a Kar ...

neighourhood, living near the Pathan Mosque in Moosa Lane. His uncle wanted him to join the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

youth wing, but

Maulana Maudoodi Abul A'la al-Maududi ( ur, , translit=Abū al-Aʿlā al-Mawdūdī; – ) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist and scholar active in British India and later, following the parti ...

convinced him to join

Jamaat e Islami Jamaat-e-Islami ( ur, ) () is an Islamic movement founded in 1941 in British Raj, British India by the Islamic theologian and socio-political philosopher, Abul Ala Maududi, Syed Abul Ala Maududi.van der Veer P. and Munshi S. (eds.''Media, Wa ...

instead. His mother tongue was Persian, but he was also fluent in other local languages such as Sindhi, Balochi, Gujarati and Pashto. He was an alumnus of the

University of Karachi The University of Karachi ( sd, ; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh (whic ...

Political career

Mayor of Karachi

He was first elected mayor in 1979, serving until 1983.Profile
. Retrieved 1 October 2010 He was then reelected the same year and served until 1987. He was known for his outspokenness for the rights of the city. He was arrested and removed from his office when he was leading a procession of councilors from

KMC Building The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Building is a colonial-era building located on M. A. Jinnah Road, in central Karachi. Construction began in 1927, completed in 1930, and the building was then inaugurated in 1932. It is considered to be on ...

to the Sindh Secretariat to protest against the provincial government's decision not to part with motor-vehicle tax and property tax in favour of KMC.

National Assembly

He was first elected as a member of Basic democracies system by

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

in 1960s, in 1970s he contested general elections against PPP's Abdul Sattar Gabol from Lyari but lost the election, in 1985 he contested on the same seat against PPP's Ghulam Mohammad Chishti but again lost the election. Afghani finally managed to win a seat in the National Assembly in 2002 from Karachi ( NA 250, Karachi XII).

Family

Afghani married at the age of 17 and had four sons and three daughters.

Death

Afghani died in November 2006 at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. He was buried in the

Mewa Shah Graveyard Mewa Shah Graveyard ( ur, ) is located in SITE Town, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The Mewa Shah Qabaristan (Cemetery), one of the largest and oldest graveyards of Karachi. It is named after the 19th Century Sufi, Mewa Shah, was a Sufi and struggl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Afghani, Abdul Sattar 1930 births 2006 deaths Mayors of Karachi Pakistani people of Afghan descent Pakistani people of Tajik descent Politicians from Karachi Members of the National Assembly of Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan politicians University of Karachi alumni Burials at Mewa Shah Graveyard