DERA GHAZI KHAN: For­mer caretaker prime mi­­nister and chief of the Mazari tribe, Sardar Mir Balakh Sher Khan Mazari passed away on Friday. He was 94.

He was under treatment at a private health facility in Lahore for the past few months. He was born in 1928 in Kot Karam and studied at Aitchison College, Lahore.

Mir Balakh Sher was among those tribal chiefs who, in 1951-52, signed the annexation of nine tribal territories of Baloch tribes residing in the Koh-i-Sulaiman range, with Punjab.

In 1993, he was appointed caretaker prime minister after the dismissal of Nawaz Sharif-led government by then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan. However, his tenure ended soon as the Supreme Court revoked the presidential order, and reinstated Nawaz Sharif.

He was tumandar and head of Mazari tribe located on the tristate area between Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan.

Mir Balakh Sher was the 22nd sardar and seventh Mir of the Mazari tribe.

His son Riyaz Mazari and grandson Dost Muhammad Mazari, former deputy spea­ker of Punjab Assembly, are active in national and provincial parliamentary politics.

His brother, the late Sher Baz Mazari was also a politician and intellectual of leftist orientation.

Meanwhile, Prime Minis­ter Shehbaz Sharif expres­sed grief and sorrow over Mir Balakh Sher’s demise.

In a statement, he said Mr Mazari’s services for the country would be reme­m­bered for a long time to come. May Allah rest the depar­ted soul in eternal peace and grant courage to the bereaved family to bear the loss with fortitude, he said.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2022