Sardar Sherbaz Mazari passes away at 90

KARACHI: Veteran politician Sardar Sherbaz Khan Mazari passed away in Karachi at the age of 90, his family confirmed on Saturday.

He was born on October 6, 1930, in Rajanpur’s Kot Karam Khan Rojhan area. Sardar Mazari started his political career by supporting Fatima Jinnah against Field Marshal Ayub Khan in 1964’s presidential polls.

In the 1970 elections, which resulted in the separation of East Pakistan, Mazari contested as an independent candidate and was elected MNA. He also served as leader of the opposition in the National Assembly from 1975 to 1977. Mazari played an important role in the preparation of the 1973 Constitution and later during the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy during the General Zia’s martial law regime. The senior politician was the founder of the National Democratic Party (NDP), a party formed along with

Begum Naseem Wali to fill the vacuum created by the martial law regime’s ban on the National Awami Party (NAP). In recent years, he was no longer active in politics due to old age and indisposition.

His political autobiography ‘A Journey to Disillusionment’ is considered one of the most insightful books on Pakistan’s political history. He was the brother of former acting prime minister Mir Balkh Sher Mazari and brother-in-law of slain Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti. The family said that his body was being shifted to his village Rojhan Mazari where the funeral prayers will be offered. Later, he will be laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard today.