Ghulam Mustafa Khar

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Ghulam Mustafa Khar Malik (Urdu: غلام مصطفیٰ کھر), (born August 2, 1937) was a close ally of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his chief minister in Punjab, Pakistan during the 1970s,also Governor twice, Khar was one of the founders of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Khar was also jailed by the Zia ul Haq regime after the 1977 coup. The Khar family are also one of the biggiest land owners in Pakistan and have become billionaires in US Dollars.[citation needed]

After sometime in the political wilderness (famously calling Bhutto the 'maharaja of Larkana') he rejoined Bhutto before the 1977 general elections. Arrested after the imposition of martial law, Khar slipped out of the country after an understanding with General Chishti (a General Zia-ul-Haq's comrade). He promptly went back into opposition politics after leaving the country a fact which infuriated Zia and led to the withdrawal of an offer to Khar's close friend Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi to become Prime Minister.[citation needed]

Returning to Pakistan before 1988, Khar had by then had fallen out with Benazir Bhutto and with Army backing created the National Peoples Party (NPP) along with Jatoi and other PPP dissidents. The Army believed they needed to neutralize Benazir Bhutto's influence in Sindh with a Sindhi and wanted to use Jatoi for that, Khar in the meantime contested for several seats in the Punjab and won all of them. However, Jatoi suffered a shock defeat.[citation needed]

Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi became caretaker Prime Minister in 1990 after Benazir's removal but Punjab's Chief Minister and Khar's rival Nawaz Sharif outmaneuvered Jatoi and ended up being Prime Minister. Khar eventually ended up rejoining the PPP before the 1993 elections. Re-elected, he served as Federal Minister for Water and Power under Benazir Bhutto. Defeated in the 1997 election, he was unable to contest the 2002 elections because of a restriction placed on non-graduates from contesting the elections.[citation needed]

Khar then rejoined the PPP and began campaigning to become the Party President for Punjab province.

Mustafa Khar in the book "My Feudal Lord" by Tehmina Durrani, one of his wives.

In detail coverage on his personality traits, chronology of the events in Pakistan's political landscape etc can be found in the book "My Feudal Lord" by Tehmina Durrani.

Political offices
Preceded by
Lt. Gen. Attiqur Rahman
Governor of Punjab
1971 - February 1973
Succeeded by
Hanif Ramay
Preceded by
Sadiq Hussain Qureshi
2nd term
13 March 1975 - 31 July 1975
Succeeded by
Mohammad Abbas Abbasi
Preceded by
Malik Meraj Khalid
Chief Minister of Punjab
12 November 1973 - 15 March 1974
Succeeded by
Hanif Ramay