Mohammad Khan Junejo (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Sindhi: ; 18 August 193216 March 1993) was a Pakistani politician and an

agriculturist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the U ...

who served as the tenth

prime minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Paki ...

, having elected in this capacity in 1985 until being dismissed in 1988. Junejo, a powerful landowner and was introduced in the agricultural industry , was educated in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former ...

, having attended the St. Patrick's College, and was trained as an agriculturist at the Agricultural Institute near

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, ...

in the United Kingdom. He gained public notice when he joined the Ayub administration and subsequently held cabinet portfolio of

railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity". World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Org ...

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

and labour from 1963–69. After participating in the elections held in 1985, he was chosen to form the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

on a

Pakistan Muslim League The Pakistan Muslim League ( ur, ; known as PML), is the name of several different Pakistani political parties that have dominated the right-wing platform in the country. The Muslim League (a different party) was the party of Pakistan’s ...

's platform, of which, he took over the party's presidency. His government was noted for the support of

conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

, austerity measures that ultimately reduces the

government budget deficit The government budget balance, also alternatively referred to as general government balance, public budget balance, or public fiscal balance, is the overall difference between government revenues and spending. A positive balance is called a '' ...

s and repealed the emergency laws to allow the freedom of press and media in the country. Despite strong resistance and fierce opposition from

President President most commonly refers to: * President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Zia-ul-Haq, Junejo authorized his

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

Yakob Khan to sign and ratified the Geneva Accords in 1988. His relations with President Zia-ul-Haq also soured when he opened the parliamentary inquiry on Ojhri Camp disaster, also in 1988. On 29 May 1988, Prime Minister Junejo was dismissed by President Zia who leveled charges on incompetency and economic stagflation and immediately called for new general elections. After the

general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held in 1988, he led his own faction while being ceremonial party's presidency.

Early life and education

Mohammad Khan Junejo belonged to a Sindhi

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

Family. He was born in Sindhri Tharparker in Mirpur Khas District,

Sind Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest provinc ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

on 18 August 1932. He hailed from an influential agriculturalist (Haji Alisher Shah) feudalist family in

that had a traditional conservative mindset. He was educated at the St. Patrick's High School in

and later graduated from the St. Patrick's College. He went to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separa ...

where he was trained as an

and earned a diploma to be certified in 1954. Junejo was an agriculturist and a farmer who cultivated the famed mangoes (the ''

Sindhri The 'Sindhri' mango is a mango cultivar grown in Sindhri, a town in Sindh, and other areas of Sindh province in Pakistan. It is a large oval shaped mango which is extremely sweet and aromatic. It is considered the ''Queen of Mangoes'' becaus ...

'') in his local village in the Mirpur Khas. Junejo was a conservative Muslim and a dominant figure in his village, who had his wife living in the village for her entire life, and kept her out of public sight even when he was elected as Prime Minister and eventually moved to Prime Minister's Secretariat. Nothing or very little was known about his wife as he often traveled and visited other states with his elder daughter; he was married with five children. His public image was popular in politics for his driving of blue coloured Suzuki Mehran and, he popularly drove the Mehran in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

despite the annoyance of President Zia who had a strong preference for Mercedes-Benz W126.

Political career

Upon returning from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and No ...

in 1954, he joined the

(PML) and was elected as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

for Sanghar District and worked as a party worker for the Muslim League until 1963. He participated in elections and was elected for West-Pakistan legislative assembly and soon he joined the Ayub administration and subsequently held cabinet department of

Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity". World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Org ...

Communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

and Labour until 1965. He again successfully participated in the presidential elections in 1965, and was elevated as the Minister of Railways under the Ayub administration which he served until 1969. From 1970–77, he was unable to defend his constituency from Sanghar but became closer to religious leader Pir Pagara, of which he later became his political missionary. In 1977, he was named as a caretaker cabinet minister when General Zia-ul-Haq, the chief of army staff, took over the civilian government led by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourt ...

. From 1977–79, he served as the Railway minister but later resigned in 1979.

Prime Minister of Pakistan

In January 1985,

Zia-ul-Haq announced to hold nationwide

that would be based on non-partisanism– there have been political rumors that the

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 196 ...

had a subsequent political role in such regards. Junejo was successful in defending his constituency from the Sanghar District and was known to be a religiopolitical missionary of Pir Pagara who had been leading his own political faction in

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of ...

. President Zia considered three names for the appointment of the Prime Minister that included: Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Liaquat Ali Jatoi and Junejo– all were from

. After consulting with Pir Pagara, President Zia hand-picked and appointed Junejo as

through an invitation to form the civilian government in accordance to the revival of

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these prin ...

. His mindset reflected a

and was a powerful feudalist whom President Zia considered him to be ineffective in leading towards the decision-making processes. and after securing votes in the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

through the

Vote of Confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

(VoC), he met with President Zia and reportedly asking him about the ending of the

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Martia ...

. The martial law was eventually lifted on his repeated instances and announced his cabinet which saw the ouster of many of President Zia's military members in the civilian cabinet. He kept two ministerial departments of

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

and

interior Interior may refer to: Arts and media * ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas * ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck * ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See * Interior de ...

. Prime Minister Junejo's social policies led to the

political independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

when he was appointed as the President of Pakistan Muslim League. His policy also included the

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerci ...

despite the opposition he faced with President Zia in this issue. He gained popularity and significance for his daring stance and disagreement with President Zia over many issues that President Zia had been managing since his control over the government since 1977. On the economic front, he took the

austerity measure Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...

s and ultimately halted the Islamization of Economy ran under President Zia, which eventually put him at odds with President Zia.

Junejo Event

In 1986–87, his political relations with President Zia began to deteriorated over the control over the

foreign policy A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through ...

and daringly authorized his

Yakob Ali Khan to ratify the Geneva Accords that allowed the Russian retreat from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is border ...

. In this regard, he had held a party conference that he invited the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Enge ...

and

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founde ...

to discuss to end the bloodshed in

. In 1987, he provided his political support and eventually used his prerogative to appoint

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on t ...

Mirza Aslam Beg as vice-army chief, despite President Zia wanting Lieutenant-General

Zahid Ali Akbar Lieutenant General Zahid Ali Akbar ( ur, ; b. 1933) , is a former engineering officer in the Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers, who oversaw the civil construction of the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi, and later directing the Engineering Research L ...

who was sent to DESTO. Prime Minister Junejo also stalled the fundamentalist legislation in an attempt to keep leverage on President Zia. Following the massive explosion near a hidden facility in

Rawalpindi Cantonment Rawalpindi Cantonment is a large cantonment located in Rawalpindi, Punjab province, Pakistan. The headquarters of the Pakistan Army which are known as the General Headquarters (GHQ) are located in the Rawalpindi cantonment. Rawalpindi cantonm ...

that resulted in more than 100 lives lost, Prime Minister Junejo announced to call for a parliamentary inquiry to overlook the incident. On 28 May 1988, DG ISPR

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

Siddique Salik informed Prime Minister Junejo of President Zia holding the press conference the next day in this regards, terming it "very important." On 29 May 1988, President Zia appeared on

PTV News PTV News HD is a 24-hour Urdu News channel owned by the Pakistan Television Corporation. It also broadcast as Terrestrial television. PTV News is a cable and satellite news channel launched in the face of tough international competition. Its o ...

and surprisingly announced to have dissolved the

, using the Eighth Amendment. Many investigative newspapers and political gossips pointed that it was the inquiry report on the " Ojhri Camp disaster" that implicated the military members in Zia's administration despite President Zia claiming of Junejo's Government had been dismissed because the law and order situation had broken down to an alarming extent and the government could not be run in accordance with the Constitution. During the

held in 1988, he was unsuccessful for defending his constituency but was elected for the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

held in 1990 and remained head of the PML.

Later life and death

In 1993, he was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

and went to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

for the treatment where he was treated at the

Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 m ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean ...

, where he died the same year. He was brought and buried in his locality. His widow, Begum Junejo, died in

on July 13, 2003, at the age of 60.

References

External links

* * * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Junejo, Muhammad Khan 1932 births 1993 deaths Sindhi people St. Patrick's High School, Karachi alumni Pakistani anti-communists Pakistani landowners Pakistan Muslim League politicians Military government of Pakistan (1977–1988) Defence Ministers of Pakistan Interior Ministers of Pakistan Prime Ministers of Pakistan Deaths from leukemia Pakistani Muslims Pakistani MNAs 1985–1988 People from Mirpur Khas District Pakistani MNAs 1990–1993 Pakistan Muslim League (J) politicians Pakistani MNAs 1962–1965 Pakistani MNAs 1965–1969 Minister of Railways (Pakistan)