Former federal minister Khalid Kharal dies

The PPP leader was suffering from a protracted respiratory disease

Former federal information minister Khalid Ahmed Khan Kharal, who was a close confidant of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, passed away in Lahore in the wee hours of Sunday.

The PPP leader had been suffering from a protracted respiratory disease and was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Lahore. His body was brought to his hometown of Kamalia, where his funeral prayers were offered at Govt High School grounds. Later he was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard.

Very sad to know about death of Senior PPP leader and Politician ,Ex-Information Minister Pak #KhalidAhmedKhanKharal ( 1939-2017) #RIP pic.twitter.com/e7BFPuZ1yZ

— Fayaz Chachar (@ChacharFayaz) August 27, 2017

His Namaz-e-Janaza was attended by Justice (retd) Khalil Ramday, former Punjab advocate general Mustafa Ramday, Chaudhry Ashfaq, Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, Ahmed Mukhtar, government officials, lawyers, traders, journalists and people from all walks of life.



Kharal remained an influential PPP member from 1977 to 2012 and served as a federal minister twice in the government of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in 1988-1990 and 1993-1996. He did not contest the general elections of 2013.

Very sad to know about death of Senior PPP leader and Politician ,Ex-Information Minister Pak #KhalidAhmedKhanKharal ( 1939-2017) #RIP pic.twitter.com/dHgx02kQQN

— Mir Altaf Ahmed Khoso (@miraltafkhoso) August 27, 2017

Due to differences with senior party leadership, he left the party to join Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) but rejoined the PPP along with another leader Faisal Saleh Hayat after meeting with PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in Bilawal House, Karachi earlier this year.

Born in 1939 in Kamalia, Kharal joined the Central Superior Services of Pakistan as an assistant commissioner in 1963. He also served as commissioner in Larkana during the Zulfikar Bhutto era.

He is survived by his wife Azra Khalid, son Haider Ali Khan Kharal, daughter Asiya Khurram, and his grandchildren.