The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Saturday officially announced election of Syed Munawwar Hasan as its fourth central Amir for the next five-year term. He would continue to head the JI till April 2014.Qazi has declined to stand for office, presumably because of his heart condition.
According to details provided by the party's election commission, out of 23,480 JI members, 91.30% used their right to vote. The election commission did not disclose the number of votes baged by the new Amir. However, sources said Munawwar Hasan got more than 55% votes while the remaining were shared by other nominees of the JI Shoora -- Liaquat Baloch and Sirajul Haq. The balloting process, started on March 1, continued for four weeks.
Since its inception on August 26, 1941, the JI had been holding elections for new Amir after every five years.
Maulana Syed Abul A'ala was elected as its first Amir followed by Mian Tufail Muhammad in 1972 and Qazi Hussain Ahmad in 1987.
Syed Munawar Hasan hails from a distinguished family, based in Delhi before partition of the Subcontinent. He was born in August 1944 and his family migrated to Karachi in 1947 after partition. He did masters in Sociology (1963) and Islamic Studies (1966) from Karachi University.
Syed Munawar Hasan joined the National Students Federation (NSF) - a student body with leftist leaning - and was elected its president in 1959. He joined IJT in 1960 and became president of its Karachi University Unit, Karachi City Unit and member of the Central Executive Council. He was elected Nazim-e-Aala in 1964 and served in that capacity for three consecutive terms.