Islamabad: A prominent Pakistani legal expert and author has claimed that Fatima Jinnah, sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was assassinated and did not die a natural death.

Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, senior advisor to Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, told reporters in Islamabad on July 21 that Fatima was found dead in her room in 1967 with a cut on her neck and bloodstains on her bed, but police hushed up the matter and termed it a natural death.

Pirzada said Fatima, who was a presidential candidate against Field Marshal Ayub Khan in 1967, had a daily routine of closing all the doors and windows of her room at the first floor and throwing the keys into the kitchen.

Her servant used to open the door of Fatima's room every morning with newspapers for her perusal.

On July 8, 1967, Fatima retired for the day after coming back from a wedding ceremony without throwing out the keys.

When the door was not opened the next day, it was broken open and Fatima was found dead on a blood-soaked bed with a cut on her neck.

Pirzada said he wanted to divulge the details, but for some reasons could not do so. He promised to give a detailed statement on the matter on the coming Independence Day on August 14.

He, however, said some former servant of Fatima might have killed her out of personal grudge.

Pirzada did not say why he has decided to speak about the incident 36 years after it occurred.

PTI