1940-2010: Sardar Farooq Leghari Passes Away

Posted on October 19, 2010
Filed Under >Adil Najam, People, Politics
21 Comments
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Adil Najam

Former President of Pakistan, Sardar Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari died in the early hours of Wednesday at the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology in Rawalpindi. He was 70 and a heart patient for some time.

Like Ghulam Ishaq Khan before him (here and here), had the Presidency ‘thrust’ upon him by circumstance and political machinations of others; however, his use of Presidential powers while in office left a deep and lasting impact on Pakistan politics. Impacts that Pakistan is still reeling from.

A one time civil servant, schooled at Aitchison College, Forman Christian College, Punjab University and Oxford University, Mr. Leghari was a Baluch Sardar and reportedly a major land owner with 10 square kilometers of land ownership.

Once a PPP stalwart and close confidant of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, he would later turn against her and prove instrumental in her eventual fall from power. In fact, it was that closeness that elevated him to the Presidency in 1993 as he was considered loyal, dependable and reliable. In the end he proved to be anything but that for Ms. Bhutto and became a central actor in her removal from office as he removed his own party’s government under Article 58 2(b) on charges of corruption, lawlessness and extra judicial killings.

Here is a recent interview with Mr. Leghari:

Later he was himself forced to resign when Nawaz Sharif was Prime Minister. Later still he formed the Millat party, which eventually formed an alliance with PML-Q during Gen. Musharraf’s rule, during which his son Awais Leghari was a high profile Minister. Others from his close circle – including Mahmud Durrani and Sumaira Malik – were also key players in Gen. Musharraf’s government.

21 responses to “1940-2010: Sardar Farooq Leghari Passes Away”

  1. Ammar Khan says:

    All of u liars and fools have u not done your history. First of all, this man spent 25 years with zuulfiqar and benazir bhutto and he was loved and respected by them.But when Mr zardari came along,he polluted benazirs image and did corruption on her name.When Farooq got to knw about this,he asked benazir to put an end to this or he will take action and as she did not after several warnings he had no choice but to use article 58-2(b). Also, he was forced to resign by nawaz sharif as he did not accept his offer of firing the chief justice for pursuing cases against him so nawaz fired him. After which nawaz stormed the supreme court.

  2. Adnan Ahmad says:

    PMA, Good to see you here. Your comment is poetic. Now we have to locate MQ. hum se bhi dilfaraib hein gham roazgaar key.

  3. Pervaiz Munir Alvi says:

    A Baloch Sardar is dead and he will be replaced by another Aitchison College and Oxford trained Sardar son or grandson of his. In time he too will rise to power and become MPA, MNA, Minister, Prime Minister and President. The family holdings will grow larger and larger and someday someone will report that Sardar so and so, owner of twenty-kilometer square land in DG Khan is dead. And folks will say ‘Ina Lilla…..’. The children of peasant-slaves at Sardar’s land will be still peasant-slaves and folks will be saying ‘Ina Lilla……..

  4. Yasir Hasan says:

    He is among those people who had the potential and provided with opportunity in life to change the condition of people of his area and his country. However he didn’t do either. He was satisfied with having his son and relatives as ministers. Typical Pakistani politician who comes into politics for their benefits. May Allah grant us politicians who are willing to make a difference (in positive manner of course..:-) )… May his soul rest in peace though…

  5. Umar Shah says:

    Adil sahab while this is not the forum to condole with the bereaved family, I hope they can overcome this sad but inevitable fact of life. With all due respect few things to remember about Sardar Leghari and his role in Pakistani politics:
    -Although Oxford educated he did nothing for his hometown and people or contribute towards increasing their literacy rate (one of lowest in Pakistan)
    -The only possibly good thing he did for Pakistan was to get rid of PPP government for very legitimate reasons (corruption, lawlessness and extra judicial killings) which not surprisingly are the gift of the current and 4th PPP govt. as well.
    -Loyalty shouldn’t mean turning a blind eye and ignoring these evils. Therefore dismissal of Benazir govt. shouldn’t be held against him.
    -In Pakistan’s parliamentary democracy a President shouldn’t belong to a party so the argument that he ousted his own party’s govt. doesn’t hold.
    -He was after all a proponent of Sardari system and its evils therefore he is responsible for the moral bankruptcy and political morass in Pakistan today.
    -Assuming that Presidency was thrust upon him would be bordering on naivetĂ© given that for a Sardar that’s one leg up in the power play of Pakistani politics.

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