Ilyas Ahmed Bilour, a veteran Awami National Party (ANP) leader and former senator, passed away in Peshawar at the age of 84. His brother, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, confirmed that Ilyas had been battling kidney disease and had been under treatment in a local hospital for several months. He passed away early in the morning at 4am.
The ANP shared the news of his passing on social media, highlighting his legacy as the brother of Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour and the late Shaheed Bashir Ahmed Bilour, and the father of former senator Ghazanfar Bilour.
His funeral will be held on Sunday at 2pm in Peshawar’s Wazir Bagh, with burial planned in his ancestral graveyard.
Ilyas Ahmed Bilour served in Pakistan’s Senate from 2012 to 2018 and was a dedicated member of the ANP. He retired from active politics after his son joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Beyond politics, Bilour was a prominent businessman, serving as chairman of the Pak-Asia Business Council and president of the Indo-Pak Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He also held the role of vice president of the Standing Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union on Sustainable Development, Finance, and Trade for the Asia Pacific region.
Prominent figures, including former President Asif Ali Zardari and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, expressed condolences, recognizing Bilour’s contributions to politics and society.
