Sindh CM’s adviser Aijaz Sheerazi passes away due to coronavirus

Aijaz Ali Shah Sheerazi – adviser to the Sindh chief minister on population welfare – died of the coronavirus at a hospital in Karachi on Thursday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Sheerazi, who belongs to Sujawal, had been fighting for his life after getting infected for the last two months at different health facilities. At the time of his death, he was in the intensive care unit of Aga Khan Hospital while placed on a ventilator.

Earlier, he had tested negative for the virus around a month ago but his condition deteriorated because of the infection.

Soon after hearing the news of his demise, markets and businesses started closing in Sujawal, Thatta, Jang Shahi, Gharo and other towns of the two districts [Sujawal and Thatta] as people grieved over the loss of their beloved politician who was elected to the Sindh Assembly five times.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, in his reaction, expressed his sorrow and offered his condolences to the bereaved family. Late Sheerazi was a popular and moderate personality, he added. 

Sheerazi isn’t the first PPP leader losing his life to the coronavirus as Jam Madad Ali – an MPA from Sanghar had passed away last month. Earlier in October, it was Rashid Rabbani – PPP Sindh chapter's vice-president – had died due to complications caused by the novel coronavirus.

Although the Sheerazi group has remained a strong rival of the PPP, the family had joined the party before the 2018 general elections in June that year after leaving the PML-N.

But it wasn’t the first that they had switched loyalties as they had become part of the PPP in October 2012 too. Previously, the influential group was part of the PML-Q.

However, they took part in the elections as independents before the joining the PML-N, the then ruling party. Later, Syed Ayaz Ali Sheerazi, one of the members of the group, was inducted by former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in his cabinet as a minister of state for national food security and research.