Veteran politician Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar,who was once announced by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto that he is right hand , announced on Monday that he was joining Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. After a meeting with the PTI Chairman Imran Khan, former Punjab Governor Khar said that he agrees with the party’s manifesto and believes Imran could build the future of Pakistan.“I shall fully support Imran in making the new Pakistan,” he said.
Imran welcomed Khar into the PTI fold and stressed that it was time for everyone to support Pakistan beyond personal differences.“It is the responsibility of the privileged class to a play greater role than the common man for the future of Pakistan,” he said.
Imran said that building south Punjab and ending disparity was PTI’s priority.Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar is elder brother of Malik Ghulam Muhammad Noor Rabbani Khar MNA, and uncle of Hina Rabbani Khar former foreign minister.A prominent politician from southern Punjab, Ghulam Mustafa Khar was formerly associated with the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) and Zuklfikar Ali Bhutto called him " his right hand" he was the party’s founding members, having served as the governor and chief minister of Punjab during Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s premiership.He was formerly married to Aisha Butt,Tehmina Durrani, the human rights activist and writer.Khar broke his nearly 50 year long affiliation with the PPP and joined the PTI, Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar started his politics in 1965 when he reached at the age of 28. He contested election on convention League ticket and returned as the
After sometime in the political wilderness (famously calling Bhutto the ‘maharaja of Larkana’) he rejoined Bhutto before the 1977 general elections. Arrested after the imposition of martial law, Khar slipped out of the country after an understanding with General Chishti (a General Zia-ul-Haq’s comrade). He promptly went back into opposition politics after leaving the country a fact which infuriated Zia and led to the withdrawal of an offer to Khar’s close friend Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi to become Prime Minister.
Returning to Pakistan before 1988, Khar had by then had fallen out with Benazir Bhutto and with Army backing created the National Peoples Party (NPP) along with Jatoi and other PPP dissidents. The Army believed they needed to neutralize Benazir Bhutto’s influence in Sindh with a Sindhi and wanted to use Jatoi for that, Khar in the meantime contested for several seats in the Punjab and won all of them. However, Jatoi suffered a shock defeat.
Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi became caretaker Prime Minister in 1990 after Benazir’s removal but Punjab’s Chief Minister and Khar’s rival Nawaz Sharif outmaneuvered Jatoi and ended up being Prime Minister. Khar eventually ended up rejoining the PPP before the 1993 elections. Re-elected, he served as Federal Minister for Water and Power under Benazir Bhutto. Defeated in the 1997 election, he was unable to contest the 2002 elections because of a restriction placed on non-graduates from contesting the elections.
Khar then rejoined the PPP and began campaigning to become the Party President for Punjab province. In 2007, Khar was removed from the PPP by Benazir Bhutto due to his controversial statements regarding the deal between Benazir and General Musharraf. He also had a war of words with the secretary general of the PPPP Jehangir Badar , who was called a political orphan by Khar.
Khar has been married numerous times and his relationship with Tehmina Durrani, one of his seven wives is in particular famous, as she wrote a book called “My Feudal Lord” on her husband , in which she describes the alleged abuse given to her by Khar.
In detail coverage on his personality traits, chronology of the events in Pakistan’s political landscape etc can be found in the book “My Feudal Lord” by Tehmina Durrani.
