Loss of Two Decent Human Beings Who Happened to Be Politicians
By C. Naseer Ahmad
Washington, DC

 

History might remember December 2020 as the final month in a tragic year with a devastating pandemic but also the month in which Pakistan suffered, within a few days, a loss of two decent human beings who also happened to be politicians. Sardar Sherbaz Khan Mazari, a veteran politician died at age 90 on Saturday, December 5, 2020. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali died on December 2, 2020 at the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology & National Institute of Heart Diseases (AFIC-NIHD) in Rawalpindi after suffering a heart attack.

Tributes have been coming in the form of condolence messages on twitter and meaningful obituaries that serve as historical records for students in search of answers and models to follow. Political activist and lawyer, Jibran Nasir, said Mazari was a political leader of “rare integrity with many contributions towards initiating the democratic process in Pakistan,” according to a Dawn report. Mazari was remembered for his courageous stand against the military action launched in East Pakistan during General Yahya’s dictatorship. “Deeply grieved at the death of Mir Zafarullah Jamali, former PM of Pakistan. A true gentleman full of humor and wit. Will be missed. May his soul RIP”, tweeted Shafqat Mahmood, PTI Member National Assembly from Lahore on December 2, 2020. He is currently serving as Federal Minister Education, Professional Training, National Heritage and Culture.

A common trait of men of integrity is courage, which drives them towards a meaningful life to serve their country and the people whom they aspire to represent. This was true for both Sardar Mazari as well as Mir Zafarullah Jamali because in their youth they opposed the dictatorship of General Ayub Khan and enlisted in the cause to help elect Miss Fatima Jinnah. Even though Miss Jinnah’s campaignfailed, both Sardar Mazari and Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali continued the struggle – each in different ways and at different times.

For Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Dawn’s writer Tahir Naseer provides a list of condolence messages on Twitter pouring in praise for the late Prime Minister of Pakistan. The obituary details the long political career of Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, including his arrest while supporting Miss Fatima Jinnah.

A Dawn, December 6, 2020 report, “Sherbaz Mazari and his journey of enlightenment”, provides a fascinating account of Sardar Mazari’s life. “Till 2002, when his book ‘A Journey to Disillusionment’ appeared, very few people knew that Sardar Sherbaz Mazari, a political leader with a typical feudal background, was a keen lover of books, a habit he retained till last,” says the Dawn report. “In search of books, he once found a rare book on the conquest of Sindh. When he was acquiring that book, he encountered Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who also wanted it, but Sardar Sherbaz flatly refused to oblige,” the Dawn report continues.

From reading obituaries, readers can form opinions about the human beings who have passed away. Readers can also validate their own experiences, if any, with the human beings discussed in the obituaries. Or the readers can find disagreements with the writers of the obituaries, either based on some other references or through personal experiences. In the case of these two recently departed gentle souls, this author finds some things to validate based on personal encounters with these two stalwarts who happened to be politicians too.

Through my lifelong good friend Mowahid Shah, who was then Editor, Eastern Times in Washington, I met Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali in Washington in 1991. So, I just looked up the two articles that I wrote in which Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who was not in a formal governmental role then, was mentioned. Though Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali started his career in opposition of dictatorship, he did end up serving in government under two military dictators: General Zia-ul-Haq and General Pervez Musharraf. About serving with General Zia and mentioning the opposition even by his close family members, he said that he joined “because my people (Baluchis) needed help. So, I told them that the day the Martial Law ended, I will leave the government… Keeping in mind my promise, I resigned from office, half an hour after the Martial Law was lifted.”

Leaving politics aside, what impressed me about Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali was his humanity. In a September 1991 gathering – hosted by late Aslam Sahib, Publisher Eastern Times - for visiting Pakistani leaders at a restaurant in Arlington, Virginia, I found Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali more interested in playing with my two sons, who were then 10 and 7 years old, rather than cozying up with the dignitaries.

In a similar manner, I felt Sardar Mazari’s humanity and sincerity when he visited my family home to offer condolence on my father’s death in September 1994. “I often disagreed with your father, but I always respected him,” said Sardar Mazari during that visit. This is the statement that resonates with me as a human being and it said a lot not only about Sardar Mazari but also the company that my beloved father late Col. Aziz Ahmad kept during his lifetime.

The blows to the nation that came within a few days with the deaths of Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Sardar Mazari are heavy indeed. They were both men of integrity whom history and the Pakistan nation will remember well.