I S L A M A B A D : Prominent educationist Dr Syed Rifaat Hussain was laid to rest in a graveyard of Kuri in Islamabad Friday night.

He was head of the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies (DSS) at Quaid-i-Azam University.

Dr Syed Rifaat Hussain had also served as professor and consultant in the Department of Government Policy and Public Administration at Pakistan`s National University of Science and Technology. He had also established a think tank named `Initiate Future`.

The deceased has left behind his wife Sammia Rifaat and three sons Hannan Hussain, HamzahRifaat and Haider Rifaat to mourn his death.

Talking to Dawn, Hannan Hussain said that his father was born in Sargodha anddied at the age of 73.

`He spent decades in Islamabad living in the colony of QAU and was residing in Kuri for the last almost two decades.

He breathed his last on Friday due to multiple health complications. Qul was held on Saturday,` he said.

The news of the demise of Dr Syed Rifaat became viral on social media where a large number of people introduced themselves as students ofthe deceased.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharifexpressed his deep grief and sorrow over the sad demise of p r o m i n e n t researcher and senior analyst Dr Syed Rifaat Hussain. He prayed for theelevation of the ranks of the deceased in Jannah and to grant patience to the bereaved family.

He said the demise of Dr Rifaat Hussain had deprived Pakistan of one of the best journalists and researchers.

According to Wikipedia, Dr Hussain earned his MA and PhD from The Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver, United States. From 2005 to 2008 he served as the executive director of the Regional Centre forStrategic Studies (RCSS), a Colombo-based think tank in Sri Lanka, and spent two terms as visiting professor at Stanford University`s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). The New York Times Magazine has described Hussain as a `leading Pakistani foreign policy thinker`.

Both The Economist and the BBC had interviewed Hussain on issues pertaining to South Asian security, including the Kashmir conflict, US involvement in Afghanistan, Pakistan`s counter-terrorism efforts, Nato and India-Pakistan engagement.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Stimson Center and The Atlantic Council cite Hussain`s insights as part of their published compilations and reports.