ISLAMABAD: Rehman Malik, a senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party and former interior minister, died on Wednesday from Covid-related complications at a private hospital after battling for life for nearly a month. He was 70.

He is survived by his wife and two sons.

His burial will take place at Islamabad’s sector H-8 graveyard on Thursday (today) at 2:30pm.

President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif were among prominent figures who condoled Mr Malik’s demise.

Read: 'Hardworking and capable': Political figures pay tribute to Rehman Malik following his death

Mr Malik had joined the PPP in 2000 after the military takeover by Gen Pervez Musharraf and at a time when Benazir Bhutto, the party’s chairperson, was living abroad.

When the PPP came to power after the 2008 general election, it appointed him as interior minister. He held the portfolio throughout the party’s five-year term, which ended in 2013.

Mr Malik also headed the security detail for Ms Bhutto and took flak from within his party as he was absent from the scene when Ms Bhutto was assassinated outside Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh on Dec 27, 2007.

Throughout his term as interior minister, he was pestered with questions about progress in investigations into the Benazir Bhutto murder case.

Before joining politics, Mr Malik had served the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) as additional director general from 1993 to 1998. He was virtually a persona non grata for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) thanks to some of his actions against the party’s leadership during Ms Bhutto’s second stint as prime minister (1993-96).

During the last PML-N government (2013-18), he was elected chairman of the Senate’s standing committee on interior and continued to head the body till his retirement as senator in March last year.

He gave teeth to the committee by taking suo motu notice of incidents involving terrorism and human rights violations.

He was a recipient of the Sitara-i-Shujaat and Nishan-i-Imtiaz for his services in the FIA.

During the PPP government, he played an active role in mediation with allies, especially the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, and succeeded in keeping the latter within the ruling alliance even though the two parties had serious differences over handling of the situation in Karachi.

Soon after the report of his death went viral on the media early in the morning, condolence messages started pouring in from PPP leaders as well as from PML-N and PTI figures.

Former president Asif Zardari said Mr Malik was a hardworking and a capable minister.

Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said he never compromised on principles in the minefield of politics.

Former senator Farhatullah Babar said Rahman Malik was a “go getter and doer” who rose from a position of grade-16 in the federal government to become senator and minister.

“He may have had his detractors, but there must have been something extraordinary in him to elevate him to the position he attained.

“I remember that in Oct 2007, his opponents sought to run him down in the eyes of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto,” he recalled. But, Mr Babar added, Ms Bhutto wasn’t amused and in an unprecedented rebuff, she decided to reward him instead and instantly elevated him as member of the party’s central executive committee.

“A few weeks before his death, he insisted that I visit him at his home as he wanted to say something,” recalled Mr Babar. He appeared sad.

“Pardon me if I appear to you emotional and weak,” Mr Malik said. “No Malik sb, these moments aren’t moments of weakness, I responded. These may well be moments of your strength. We didn’t meet after that,” regretted Mr Babar.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2022