Pir Mazhar Ul Haq
| Pir Mazhar Ul Haq | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Senior Education Minister of Sindh | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 September 1947 Dadu, Sindh, Pakistan |
| Political party | Pakistan Peoples Party (Parliamentarians) |
| Occupation | Politician Lawyer |
Pir Mazhar Ul Haq (Urdu: پیر مظہر الحق ) is a politician in Pakistan who is considered one of the most loyal members of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), having offered many sacrifices for the party. He has faced jail and exile as a result of the political victimization campaigns run by those governments who were brought in power (directly or indirectly) by the military dictators but he never compromised on principles. He joined the PPP when other activists had started jumping off the PPP ship after the imposition of Gen Zia's martial law in the late 1970s.
During the PPP governments in 1988 and 1993, Pir Mazhar was inducted as minister for housing and town planning, and law and parliamentary affairs respectively. He is currently the Parliamentary leader of Pakistan Peoples Party in Sindh Assembly, a member of the Central Executive Committee of Pakistan Peoples Party and the Senior Minister in the Sindh Provincial Government, holding the portfolios of Education, Literacy and Criminal Prosecution Service. Pir Mazhar Ul Haq was first elected to the Sindh Assembly from PS-74 Dadu-IV in Dadu, Sindh, Pakistan in 1988 and has continued winning all the elections he has contested since then from this constituency.
This is one of the most politically influential families of Sindh. His paternal grandfather was Pir Ilahi Bux who was nominated the Chief Minister of Sindh province by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Pir Sahib was always proud to have been nominated as the Chief Minister of Sindh by no less than the Quaid-e-Azam himself. He also remained minister for 10 years, holding the portfolio of Education. Pir Mazhar's maternal grandfather was Qazi Akbar who was one of the longest serving provincial minister in Sindh holding several portfolios including the Home department. His aunt (Qazi Akbar's niece) is Fahmida Mirza who served as the Speaker of the Natiional Assembly of Pakistan. His uncle is Zulfiqar Mirza who is also Fahmida Mirza's husband served as the Home Minister of Sindh. His daughter Marvi Mazhar contested in the 2002 general elections from Dadu constituency and got elected as the first women member of parliament to be elected from Dadu District. His Son in Law is Jam Ikram Dharejo who got elected as a member of parliament (MPA) by defeating the Mahers of Ghotki (also one of the powerful political and tribal families of Sindh). His eldest son Pir Mujeeb is currently serving as member of parliament from the Dadu constituency. He is also the great nephew of Qazi Abdul Majeed Abid, who has held numerous Federal Ministries, including Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, and Federal Minister for Water and Power. Pir Mazhar is an articulate lawyer and if he had not jumped into politics, he would have been among the top lawyers of the country.[1]
He is also considered as one of the closest aides to the Late Benazir bhutto and her husband (current President of Pakistan) Asif Ali Zardari. During his more than three decades of association with the PPP, he suffered incarceration in 15 prisons (including the dreaded Machh Jail), Torture, kidnapping, and exile but he steadfastly clung to the party and did not succumb to any pressure put on him to change his loyalties. His eldest son Barrister Pir Mujeeb Ul Haq is an office bearer of the Pakistan Peoples Party in Dadu District and has his own law practice with the name of P.I.B. Law Associates having chambers in Karachi, Hyderabad and Dadu. He is also an elected member of Parliament from the Dadu Constituency.