Name: Mian Muhammad Sharif Age: 85 Nationality: Pakistani Claim to fame: The kingmaker
Mian Muhammad Sharif, the man who engineered the rise of the Sharif clan into one of the most influential industrial and political forces in Pakistan, is no more. With the passing away of ‘Abba ji’, as he was affectionately called, at the age of 85 in Jeddah, on October 29, the binding force that keept the Sharif family together is no more. His was the voice of sanity and farsightedness that guided his sons through the ups and downs of their political and personal life.
It was the patriarch’s shrewdness and diplomacy that saw the elder son, Nawaz become the premier of Pakistan twice and the younger Shahbaz bagging the chair of the chief minister of Punjab. And when their fortunes turned after the fateful night of October 12, 1999, it is said that some family members opposed the idea of living in exile. But then, it was Mian Sharif’s vision of living to fight another day that persuaded the lot to accept the deal offered to them for the safety of the family.
Born in Jati Umra, Amritsar, Mian Mohammed Sharif migrated with his six brothers to Lahore. His belief in family unity was established early when he and his brothers set up an iron-melting furnace. The family business flourished that later expanded into Ittefaq Mills and then the Ittefaq Group of Companies that comprised of more than half a dozen factories and sugar mills. Mian Sharif was not just a successful businessman but also a philanthropist who started several welfare projects. Sharif Medical City in Raiwind was his last welfare project.
During Bhutto’s regime, Mian Sharif’s business suffered a major setback when his industrial units were nationalized. The wise man shrewdly shifted his business to the UAE and when General Ziaul Haq took power, Mian Sharif and his sons returned home and even got back the Ittefaq Foundry from the government. After winning the trust of General Zia, the Sharifs entered the political corridors when Nawaz Sharif became the finance minister of Punjab in 1983-84 and subsequently the Chief Minister in 1985. It was the elder Sharif who steered his sons’ political moves and it was his diplomacy that won Nawaz Sharif many supporters in the bureaucratic and political circles.
Over the years there have been many moves to create differences between his sons Nawaz and Shahbaz, who are poles apart in temperament and have different views. However, their wise old father effectively diffused all tensions within the family. And now, with his death, it is going to be a tough ride for the Sharifs as they will have to depend on their own judgment regarding their future strategy.
One wonders whether they will quietly sit out their remaining days in exile or take some foolish unsuccessful steps like Mian Shahbaz did when he tried to return to Pakistan in April.
Mian Muhammad Sharif, the man who engineered the rise of the Sharif clan into one of the most influential industrial and political forces in Pakistan, is no more. With the passing away of ‘Abba ji’, as he was affectionately called, at the age of 85 in Jeddah, on October 29, the binding force that keept the Sharif family together is no more. His was the voice of sanity and farsightedness that guided his sons through the ups and downs of their political and personal life.
