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Malik Meraj Khalid
Malik Meraj Khalid
ملک معراج خالد
Caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan
	In office; 5 November 1996 – 17 February 1997
President	Farooq Leghari
Preceded by	Benazir Bhutto
Succeeded by	Nawaz Sharif
10th & 13th Speaker of the National Assembly
	In office; 3 December 1988 – 4 November 1990
Deputy	Ashraf Khatoon Abbasi
Preceded by	Hamid Nasir Chattha
Succeeded by	Gohar Ayub Khan
	In office; 27 March 1977 – 5 July 1977
Deputy	Abul Fateh
Preceded by	Sahibzada Farooq Ali
Succeeded by	Fakhar Imam
5th Chief Minister of Punjab
	In office; 2 May 1972 – 12 November 1973
Governor	Ghulam Mustafa Khar; Hanif Ramay
Preceded by	Abdul Hamid Khan Dasti
Succeeded by	Ghulam Mustafa Khar
Federal Minister for Law and Justice
	In office; 13 November 1973 – 20 March 1977
Prime Minister	Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
Preceded by	Meraj Muhammad Khan
Succeeded by	Abdul Hafiz Pirzada
Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and under Developed areas
	In office; 24 December 1971 – 1 May 1972
President	Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Preceded by	Mahmoud Haroon; (as Minister of Agriculture and Works)
Succeeded by	Ghous Bakhsh Raisani
Personal details
Born	20 September 1916; Dera Chahal, Punjab, British India
Died	13 June 2003 (aged 87); Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Political party	Pakistan Peoples Party
Alma mater	Islamia College, Lahore

Malik Meraj Khalid (Urdu: ملک معراج خالد; 1 February 1916 – 13 June 2003), was a Pakistani advocate, left wing politician and Marxist philosopher who served as the Caretaker prime minister of Pakistan from November 1996 until February 1997.^[1] He was noted as being one of the original philosophers and founders of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).^[2]

Born in 1916 to a poor farming family in Punjab, British India, he graduated in law from the Islamia College (Lahore) in 1942, starting his legal practice by establishing his own law firm in 1948. Inspired by the communist literature published in the Soviet Union, his initial public community work was aimed towards promoting literacy in his native village. In 1967, he was one of the founders of the PPP and ascended towards holding the highly important public offices. Responsible for administrating and maintaining the control of the Punjab Province after the war with India in 1971, Meraj Khalid was appointed as law minister in 1974 and served as the Speaker of the National Assembly in two non-consecutive terms.^[1]^[2]

However, his tough and rigorous Hard Left ideas led to developing political differences with Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in the 1990s, by whom he was sacked in 1996 after levelling accusations against Benazir Bhutto's spouse Asif Zardari for the murder of Murtaza Bhutto.^[1] Being appointed as caretaker prime minister, Meraj Khalid then worked to rally the anti–Benazir Bhutto forces, and his efforts contributed to Nawaz Sharif and the conservatives' landslide victory in the 1997 parliamentary elections.

Early life and career beginnings

Malik Meraj Khalid was born in Dera Chahal, a small village near Burki in Lahore district, to a poor farming family belonging to the Awan tribe.^[3] During his early life, he saw his family struggle with hardship to survive in the feudalism spectrum where his family grew crops for a local feudal lord who paid less than the minimum wage set by the British Indian Empire government. However, Meraj Khalid did not abandon his school, and despite the hardship, Khalid completed his high-school and later went on to work for a feudal lord who agreed to finance his education.^{[citation needed]}

He was educated at Islamia College, Lahore and gained an LLB degree in 1944, from Punjab University Law College, Lahore, followed by an Associate degree in public works.^[4] In 1948, he began to practice law. He was elected to the Provincial Assembly of West Pakistan for the first time in 1965.^[4] In 1968, he joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and was appointed President of its Lahore chapter. It was on the PPP ticket that he was successfully re-elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1970.^[1]^[4]^[2]

Statesmanship

Malik Meraj Khalid, famous for his gentleness and honesty, was a favourite of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the flamboyant Prime Minister of Pakistan during the 1970s. It was he who played a major role in the political career of Meraj Khalid by first appointing him as his Minister for Food and Agriculture and Under-Developed Areas in December 1971.^[4] Afterwards he was appointed Chief of the Party's Parliamentary Affairs in November 1972, and Minister of Social Welfare, Local Government and Rural Development in 1975.^[4]^[2]

Member and Speaker of National Assembly

After the execution of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in April 1979, he was nominated member of the PPP's Central Committee, but he eventually resigned from this position in January 1988. After once more successfully returning to the National Assembly in 1988, he was once again appointed as Speaker of the National Assembly in 1988. However, he lost the subsequent elections in 1993, and remained aloof from politics for some time. During this period of solitude, he served as the Rector of International Islamic University in Islamabad in 1997.^[1]

Interim Prime Minister

President Farooq Leghari, using the powers granted him by the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, dismissed the government of Benazir Bhutto in November 1996 again, for corruption and politically motivated killings. Malik Meraj Khalid was asked to officiate the interim government before new elections,^[1]^[4] but as prime minister Meraj Khalid continued to live his simple life and his Lahore home too remained as accessible as ever.^[1]

Death and legacy

Malik Meraj Khalid peacefully died on 13 June 2003 at age 87 in his residence in Lahore, and was buried with full state honour in a local cemetery. He was survived by his widow and an adopted son.^[1]^[2]

His obituary in The Guardian noted that "Meraj was perhaps the one Pakistani politician intensely engaged with community work while in high office, and whenever out of office, or out of favor with his party, he returned to grassroots activism, gaining respect and affection across the spectrum. Amid political extremists and Bonapartist generals, he was a model of reason".^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Arif Azad (31 July 2003). "Obituary Malik Meraj Khalid". The Guardian (newspaper). London. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Meraj Khalid passes away". Dawn (newspaper), 14 June 2003, retrieved 23 May 2020
^ Ibrahim, M. (2009) Role of Biradari System in Power Politics of Lahore: Post-Independence Period. PhD Thesis. Bahauddin Zakariya University. Available at: http://prr.hec.gov.pk/jspui/bitstream/123456789/1526/1/1234S.pdf (Accessed: 12 June 2023) In-text citation: (Ibrahim, 2009, p.175)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Profile of Malik Meraj Khalid on The Story of Pakistan website Published 1 June 2003, Retrieved 23 May 2020

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Abdul Hamid Khan Dasti	Chief Minister of Punjab 1972–1973	Succeeded by Ghulam Mustafa Khar
Preceded by Sahibzada Farooq Ali	Speaker of National Assembly 1977	Succeeded by Fakhar Imam
Preceded by Hamid Nasir Chattha	Speaker of National Assembly 1988–1990	Succeeded by Gohar Ayub Khan
Preceded by Benazir Bhutto	Prime Minister of Pakistan Caretaker 1996–1997	Succeeded by Nawaz Sharif