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Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad
Majlis Bachao Tahreek president and five-term legislator Mohammed Amanullah Khan died of a heart attack in Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, in the early hours of Sunday.
Khan's family members said he complained of chest pain around 0430 IST soon after waking up for sahri [pre-dawn meals taken for Ramadan fast]. He suffered a cardiac arrest and died before he could be rushed to a hospital.
Khan, 64, is survived by his wife, five sons and two daughters.
At the news of Khan's death, scores of people assembled at his residence at Chanchalguda to pay their last respects.
Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen MLA Mumtaz Ahmed Khan, who was with MBT till 1999 also paid her respects.
Black flags were hoisted at crossroads and shops in some areas remained closed as a mark of respect to the departed leader.
Khan was a member of the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly for five terms from 1978 to 1999. He was elected from the Chandrayangutta constituency on Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen ticket in 1978, 1983, 1985, and 1989 elections.
He retained the seat in the 1994 elections when he contested as a MBT candidate, but lost to MIM's Akbaruddin Owaisi in the 1999 elections.
He also contested unsuccessfully for Lok Sabha from Hyderabad constitruency twice -- first in 1980 as a MIM nominee and in 1996 as MBT candidate.
From his humble beginning as a MIM activist in the 1970s, Khan won his maiden election from Chandrayangutta in 1978, and soon emerged as a powerful leader in the party with his successive electoral victories.
He served as a MIM floor leader in the assembly, besides working for the development of his backward constituency in the Muslim-dominated old city.
He was not a very popular leader in the Mahdavi sect to which be belonged, and also in the Muslim community in the state.
Khan raised the banner of revolt against MIM president Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi in April 1993 and launched Majlis Bachao Tahreek [Save Majlis Movement], alleging that Owaisi, as the president of the Babri Masjid Action Committee, 'conspired' with the Sangh parivar, leading to the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.
He also launched a tirade against Owaisi's autocratic functioning and domination over the MIM. Owaisi, however, had denied the allegation by swearing on the Holy Quran.
Khan's MBT scored a major victory when it bagged two seats in the 1994 Assembly elections, reducing MIM's tally from four seats to just one.
He, However, lost his security deposit when he contested against Owaisi in 1996 Lok Sabha polls.
In the 1999 assembly elections, MBT drew a blank and Owaisi's younger son Akbaruddin Owaisi defeated Khan in Chandrayangutta.
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