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RAWALPINDI: Former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on Wednesday passed away at a hospital in Rawalpindi at the age of 76.
According to sources, for the last few days, Jamali had been put on a ventilator in the Critical Care Unit of the hospital.
The former premier was shifted to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology & National Institute of Heart Diseases (AFIC-NIHD) in Rawalpindi after suffering a heart attack a few days ago, sources said.
Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali had served as the 15th prime minister of Pakistan from 2002 until his resignation in 2004.
After resigning, Jamali pursued his passion for field hockey. In 2004, he became president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation and vowed to solve the problems facing by the Pakistan Hockey Federation and revive the Pakistan men’s national field hockey team.
In 2008, he resigned as its president after the national hockey team performed poorly at the Olympic Games. He remained a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 2013 till 2018. In June 2018, he quit PML-N and joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
Profile
Jamali a close friend of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was born on Jan 1, 1944, in the village Roojhan Jamali of Balochistan’s Nasirabad division into a Baloch political family.
His father Mir Shahnawaz Khan Jamali was not directly involved in the politics of the country; however, he was a jirga member and landlord. Zafarullah Jamali started his schooling from his native village, late he was sent to Lawrence College, Ghora Gali Murree.
In Lawrence College, he did his O level and A level in the early 60s. Then he joined Government College Lahore for graduation. Later, he did his Masters from the University of Punjab. During his school and college days, he remained captain of the varsity’s hockey team.
As a sportsman, he continued efforts for the promotion of hockey in the country and was twice appointed as chief selector of the Pakistan hockey team.
Jamali first entered the country’s politics in 1964, supporting Ms Fatima Jinnah against the then military ruler, Field Martial Mohammad Ayub Khan, in the presidential election.
In 1967, after the death of his uncle, Mir Jafar Khan Jamali, he decided to take up politics seriously. However, he did not join any party though his family’s other elders were affiliated with the Pakistan Muslim League.
In 1970, when the then military president Gen Yahya Khan gave Balochistan the status of a province and conducted the first parliamentary election in the country, Jamali contested for a provincial assembly seat from his native constituency as an independent candidate.
He could not win the seat against a powerful Sardar, Chakar Khan Domki, the son-in-law of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, due to various reasons.
After losing the election, he remained inactive in politics, but after some time he joined the Pakistan Peoples Party and contested the 1977 election from the same constituency and was elected unopposed to the Balochistan Assembly. Later, he was inducted into the PPP-led provincial government as minister for information and food.
In the 1985 non-party based elections conducted by Zia, he contested for a National Assembly seat from Balochistan and was elected unopposed from his native constituency.
After the election, Jamali was one of the candidates for the prime ministership. In December 1988, he was elected as the Balochistan chief minister with one vote majority.
