ZULFIQAR AHMAD
ISLAMABAD: The lawmakers in National Assembly on Tuesday paid rich tributes to deceased MNA of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Gulzar Khan by suspending its regular agenda of the day, a regular feature of the Lower House to pay homage to a sitting member.
The House also paid tribute to former MNA Khalid Ahmed Kharral, who breathed his last in Lahore a few days ago after protracted illness. The lawmakers lauded the contribution of the politicians, saying they played good politics after their retirement from government service.
Shazia Marri of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) called upon the chair to pass a unanimous resolution from the house, eulogizing the services of the deceased and to share the grief with the bereaved families.
“A resolution should be passed by the house to recognize the services of the deceased and be sent to the families,” she added. The NA Speaker said that he had no objection if the house builds consensus on it.
Gulzar Khan had differences with his party after he opted to attend the National Assembly session when the party was holding a sit-in against the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) back in 2014.
But keeping the differences apart, PTI MPs were all praise for the deceased. PTI Deputy Parliamentary Leader in National Assembly Shah Mehmood Qureshi declared his disgruntled colleague as a learned man.
“Though he [Gulzar] had differences with the party [PTI], he did not violate party discipline and voted for PTI candidate [Sheikh Rasheed] in the recently held elections for the leader of the house [PM] fielded against Shahid Khaqan Abbasi after disqualification of Nawaz Sharif,” he added.
MNA Mehmood Bashir Virk of PML-N said that the late lawmakers always stood by the law and the Constitution and his differences with his party was one such example which showed he always sided with supremacy of the Parliament.
Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Pirzada said that both late Gulzar and Kharral were men of principle who never compromised on the dignity and prestige of the Parliament, and remained steadfast in their beliefs that whatever they had done was for the betterment of the country.
Sahibzada Tariqullah of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) said that Gulzar left his mark both as bureaucrat and a politician, and his services for the country will long be remembered, adding the way he served his motherland in whatever capacity will never be forgotten.
The other MPS also paid rich tributes to the late MPs and prayed to Allah to rest their souls in eternal peace.
Gulzar had been elected member National Assembly NA-IV (Peshawar) on PTI ticket in 2013 general elections. He breathed his last on Monday due to cardiac arrest at a hospital in Peshawar. Prior to becoming a member of the National Assembly, he had served on various prominent bureaucratic positions including deputy commissioner Peshawar, political agent for South Waziristan and chief commissioner for Afghan refugees.
Gulzar was counted among the dissident lawmakers of PTI. He had become disgruntled with the party leadership after developing differences with some ministers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. During the PTI sit-in of 2014, Gulzar, like some other party dissidents, had refused to give up NA membership. Khalid Ahmed Khan Kharal, a former PPP MNA, died on August 27, 2017. Kharal remained an influential member of the Pakistan Peoples Party from 1977 to 2012 and remained a federal minister twice in the government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1988-1990 and 1993-1996.
He was considered a close confidant of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto. He was imprisoned during Ziaul Haq’s martial law to testify against Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and upon his refusal he left the country in exile and joined the government of Abu Dhabi as an adviser on economic development. He lived in Abu Dhabi for 15 years.
He joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf due to his differences with the PPP leadership under President Asif Ali Zardari but later in January 2017 he rejoined PPP along with Faisal Saleh Hayat after they had a meeting with Asif Zardari at Bilawal House Karachi.
