Obituary: Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali
Hailing from Balochistan, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali had managed to get premiership during the military rule of General Pervez Musharraf despite that he also held important positions in the previous governments of Pakistan Muslim League and Pakistan Peoples Party.
Family Background and Education
Zafarullah Khan Jamali, former prime minister of Pakistan, opened his eyes on 1 January, 1944 in an influential and religious family of today’s Naasirabad district in Balochistan which then was a part of British India. He was educated in Punjab where he did masters in political science from the University of Punjab, Lahore in 1965. After completing his education he started taking interest in politics.
Political career
From 1970 t0 1997, He served on different provincial ministries including Balochistan’s Chief Ministership, while changing alliances and political parties.
After 1999 Military Coup against then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, he joined hands with a pro-military group, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) which was an important decision of his life. Throughout his political journey, he remained an opportunist but less controversial and overall a respected personality.
Premiership
In 2002 general election, PML-Q formed government and Jamali was sworn in as Pakistan’s 15th prime minister but after two years in 2004 he unexpectedly resigned from his post as an outcome of his differences with former president and military ruler, Pervaz Musharraf. He was regarded as soft-spoken and peace-loving leader during his tenure.
He also had some memories of foreign visits: meeting former Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Iran’s Supreme leader Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei and American President George W. Bush.
Life after resignation
When Musharraf left his presidential seat, Jamali again became the member of national assembly in 2013. He was welcomed by PML-N but he resigned just before the next elections in 2018. Later he announced to join Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Apart from politics, Jamali was also interested in hockey and headed Pakistan Hockey Federation from 2004 till 2008.
One of the reasons of his breakaway with PML-N was known to be the issue of “Khatam-e-Nabuwat” after a controversial bill was introduced in the parliament by the ruling party.
Death
On Wednesday (2 December 2020), the 76-year-old politician took his last breath in Rawalpindi after suffering a heart attack. He was a calm politician and unlike other Baloch leaders, he took opportunistic approaches but earned respect throughout his political journey as mainstream political leaders including Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi shared their grief online.
