Daily Times

COMING from a modest landowning family and having a degree in law from the Punjab University, it was but quite natural for late Gulzar Ahmad Khan to join politics.

He started his political career from the basic level of elective politics in 1965 and was elected chairman of Naivela Union Council, Dera Ismail Khan. His dedication to the cause of public service made him and his family elected to all the tiers of elected forum. While Gulzar Khan himself, his brother Mukhtar Khan and his two sons Waqar Ahmad Khan and Ammar Ahmad Khan remained senators for multiple terms, his spouse Razia Sultana also served as a member of the National Assembly.

Late Gulzar Khan was elected chairman of a union council in 1965; his brother Mukhtar Ahmed Khan got elected District Nazim of Dera Ismail Khan in 2005. It was sheer political wisdom of late Gulzar Khan that his family had a historic parliamentary representation in all the elected forums of Pakistan. It was quite a unique example in the political arena of Pakistan when Gulzar Khan and his son Waqar Ahmed Khan became members of Senate simultaneously in 1994. Both father and the son returned to the Upper House as senators again in 2003 by securing the largest number of votes from the provincial assembly of KP. And it became a unique example in country’s history that his younger son, Ammar Khan was also elected as a Senator from KPK in March 2006 to join his father and brother in the Upper House.

While Senator Gulzar Khan worked very closely with late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, he very frequently hosted, consistently guided and wisely advised former prime minister Benazir Bhutto at certain critical junctures of national political discourse. Benazir Bhutto would stay at his residence, Gulzar House, whenever she visited Lahore from 1988 to 1993. The PPP’s provincial secretariat at Faisal Town Lahore has been set up in a house owned by late Gulzar Khan who donated it to party long ago. With his moderate and enlightened political vision, Senator Gulzar Khan firmly stood by his party through thick and thin, especially when the party was facing the wrath of martial law of Genral Ziaul Haq.

In this context, Senator Gulzar was one of the leading stalwarts of the Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD). He held key federal ministries and remained special assistant for provincial coordination to the prime minister. Later his elder son, Waqar Khan also was elevated to the slot of federal minister for privatisation.

It will always remain a debate among members of his family and friends whether he was a successful politician or a trend-setting businessman. From a modest background and a hardworking person in literal terms, he achieved impeccable fortunes. As far back as 1960s and 1970s, he conceived the idea of setting up a residential colony with provision of all necessary amenities of life. It was late Gulzar Khan who started a housing colony adjacent to Lahore Cantt, which later on was turned to Lahore Defence Housing Society. In this way, late Gulzar Khan was the pioneer of real estate development in Pakistan and continued with this career for a shared prosperity of all associated with him.

Late Gulzar Khan had a very kind heart. For long ago, late Gulzar Khan started feeding the hungry people in Dera Ismail Khan and Lahore through well-established langars. Even when he breathed his last, he was also running four charitable dispensaries in Dera Ismail Khan. Senator Gulzar Khan died on October 4, 2015, but his legacy of moderation, enlightenment, hard work and dedication will live long.