Page 202 - Muzaffargarh Gazzetteer

MALIK GHULAM MUSTAFA KHAR
A close companion of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto,
former Chief Minister and Governor of
Punjab as well as a Federal Minister,
Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar was born on
August 2, 1937 in village Khar Gharbi of
Tehsil Kot Addu in District Muzaffargarh.
He got his education from Aitchison
College Lahore and entered politics at a
young age. He was elected member of
National Assembly in 1962 at the age of
24 years. In 1967, he joined Bhutto as a
founding member of Pakistan Peoples
Party. He was appointed Governor of
Punjab twice, i.e. from December 23,
1971 – November 12, 1973 and March
14, 1975 – July 31, 1975, and Chief
Minister from November 12, 1973 –
March 15, 1974. In 1993, he became
Federal Minister for Water and Power in
the then government of Benazir Bhutto. He remained in Pir Pagaro’s Pakistan
Muslim League (Functional) from 2012 to 2017. In April 2017, he joined
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. However, he lost 2018 elections – which he termed
as his last elections before seeking a respectable retirement from politics – to
an independent candidate, Dr Muhammad Shabbir Ali Qureshi, and stood
3rd in the electoral race. Since he had been one of the most known faces of
Muzaffargarh, and had been Governor as well as Chief Minister of Punjab,
he was conferred upon ‘Hilal-e-Muzaffargarh’ in 2019.

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