Malik Meraj Khalid

[Falak]

In 1996, following the dismissal of Benazir Bhutto's second Pakistan People's Party administration, Malik Meraj Khalid, who has died aged 87, became interim prime minister of Pakistan. His work in aligning anti-PPP forces contributed to Nawaz Sharif's landslide 1997 victory, but as prime minister Meraj continued to live his simple life and his Lahore home too remained as accessible as ever.

Meraj was born in a village near Lahore and entered legal practice after competing his education in 1948. In 1965, following community work - including literacy and Punjabi language courses in his village - he was elected as an independent to the National Assembly before gravitating to the dictator General Ayub Khan's Convention Muslim League.
He quit that party in 1968 and later, as a member of the left leaning PPP founded by Bezair Bhutto's charismatic father, the late Zulifkar Ali Bhutto, he was elected to the National Assembly in Pakistan's first-ever democratic elections in 1970. After a stint as Punjab's chief minister, he became federal agricultural minister in ZA Bhutto's government, and was fleetingly National Assembly speaker before General Zia-ul-Haq shut down the National Assembly in July 1977.

In that martial law period he kept a low profile, but remained a member of the banned PPP's central committee, and unlike some other party leaders stayed in Pakistan. On the restoration of democracy in 1988, he was re-elected as National Assembly speaker during Benazir Bhutto's first administration, earning the respect of both the opposition and ruling party for his impartiality. But, growing uneasy with Benazir Bhutto's leadership style Meraj, became associated increasingly with old guard PPP dissidents.

Following the dismissal of Benazir's first government in 1990, he returned to to his welfare work, but then, in 1996, came the interim premiership. After his exit from politics in 1997 he was appointed rector of the Islamic University, in recognition of his interest in education and literacy .

Meraj was perhaps the one Pakistani politician intensely engaged with community work while in high office, and whenever out of office, or out of favour with his party, he returned to grassroots activism, gaining respect and affection across the spectrum. Amid political extremists and Bonapartist generals he was a model of reason.
He is survived by his widow and adopted son.

· Malik Meraj Khalid, politician, born 1916; died June 13 2003

@Recently Active Users​

 

[Teponim]

Great share