OKARA: Veteran political activist and intellectual Rana Muhammad Azhar Khan passed away here on Wednesday. He was 92.

After his funeral prayers, he was laid to rest in Madina Town graveyard in the city.

Rana Azhar started his political career from the platform of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) since it was founded in 1967. He was among the participants in the meeting held at the house of Dr Mubashir Hasan in Lahore, where the party was founded under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

He was elected an MPA on a PPP ticket in 1977 general elections.

After imposition of martial law in the country by Gen Zia, Rana Azhar, like many other PPP leaders and workers, was put behind bars. He served a four-year term in jail.

He refused the Zia regime’s offer to join Majlis-i-Shoora (supreme consultative body) and earned a great respect among political workers.

He also authored a book titled ‘Aik Siasi Karkun Ki Yaddashtain’ (Memories of a political worker). His qul will be held on Thursday (today) in the mosque adjacent to his house in Samadpura locality.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2025