Founding member of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and veteran politician Meraj Muhammad Khan passed away at a local hospital on the night between Thursday and Friday. He was 77.
Khan was suffering from a respiratory illness for a long time. His funeral prayers were offered after Friday prayers in Karachi which were attended by people from all walks of life, including politicians.
Meraj was a close aide of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and contested the general elections of 1970 on a PPP ticket from Karachi. He left the PPP after developing differences with the PPP chairman.
In 1998, he joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and resigned in 2003 citing differences with Imran Khan. He then joined Mazdoor Kisan Party, which later merged with the Communist Party of Pakistan to form the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party.
Meraj Khan was born on 20 October 1938 in Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, to an educated family of Pashtun origin.
President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Minister for Information Pervaiz Rashid and leaders of different political parties, civil society and media offered condolences on the demise of the senior politician.