SUKKUR: Former provincial minister and Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sardar Mir Manzoor Ali Khan Panhwar died of heart attack in his house in Karachi on late Sunday night.

The deceased has left four sons — Mir Changez Khan, Mir Taimoor Khan,

Mir Aurangzeb Khan and Mir Suleman Khan.

The body of Mr Panwhar would be brought to Mir Adam Khan Panhwar village in district Jacobabad on Tuesday (today).

A large number of political figures and civil society activists have expressed their grief over his death.

The deceased’s eldest son, Mir Changez Khan, and friends including provincial minister Imtiaz Shaikh, former MNA Mir Babal Khan Bhayo, Sardar Abdul Nabi Thaheem, Sardar Jagan Khan Bhayo and other relatives have made arrangements for the funeral in his native village.

Sardar Mir Manzoor Ahmed Khan Panhwar became a member of the Sindh Assembly first in 1988 from the platform of PPP and was made a wildlife minister by the party’s slain chairperson, Benazir Bhutto.

Later, in 2002, when PPP-Patriot was formed, he became its provincial president and joined then chief minster Arbab Ghulam Rahim’s cabinet as the minister for auqaf, religious affairs, minorities affairs and zakat & ushr.

In 2013 elections, Mir Panhwar contested on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s ticket and was defeated by PPP candidate Mir Mumtaz Hussain Jakhrani.

The deceased rejoined the PPP in 2016 when his son, Mir Aurangzeb Khan, was given PPP ticket for MPA and he won the seat. It had become vacant after the demise of Sardar Mohammad Muqeem Khan Khoso.

Besides his political affiliation, Sardar Mir Manzoor Ahmed Khan was well known for settling countless tribal disputes through jirgas (tribal courts).

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Adviser to the CM on Prisons Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakarani, PPP leader Haji Sher Mohammad Mugheri, PPP district president Mir Liaquat

Ali Lashari and others have expressed their shock and grief over the death of Sardar Panhwar.

Meanwhile, PPP Jacobabad chapter has suspended all political activities in the city due to his death and has announced a three-day mourning in the district.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2023