Poll arena: Litmus test for squash legend Qamar Zaman

PESHAWAR: Former squash world champion, Qamar Zaman, is contesting the July 25 general election from the provincial assembly constituency PK-75 Peshawar-IX on the Pakistan Muslim-League-Nawaz (PML-N) ticket.

He is facing, among others, former provincial minister and Awami National Party (ANP) nominee Syed Aqil Shah, ex-MPA Ibrahim Qasmi of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and Malik Wajidullah of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The contest could be a tough one as most of the candidates are strong keeping in view the past record. In the previous elections, MMA, ANP and PTI had won the seat in 2002, 2008 and 2013, respectively.

Though Qamar Zaman is a known figure and popular in the area for his efforts for promotion of sports activities, electrification and other services, the rival candidates have proven vote-bank in the constituency.

Aqil Shah was born in a political family of late Lala Ayub, who was a founding member of the Khudai Khidmatgar Tehreek and was an active associate of the Red Shirts leader Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. He returned to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in the 2008 general election and remained minister for sports, culture and tourism. He was elected member Senate of Pakistan for two terms besides getting elected as member of Cantonment Board Peshawar.

Ibrahim Qasmi won the seat in the 2002 polls and later supported the MMA government. Affiliated to Sepah-i-Sahaba earlier and then the Pakistan Rah-i-Haq Party he has good following in the area.

Although Malik Wajidullah is new among the contestants for the provincial assembly seat, he was elected councillor on the PTI ticket in the last local government elections. He has replaced Arif Yousaf, who had won this seat on PTI ticket in the 2013 general election, defeating both Aqil Shah and Ibrahim Qasmi.

Arif Yousaf was denied the PTI ticket after being accused of indiscipline for not voting for the party candidates in the Senate elections in March. Born in 1952 at Quetta, Qamar Zaman was one of the world’s leading squash players in the 1970s and 1980s. His biggest triumph was winning the British Open in 1975, beating the defending-champion Geoff Hunt of Australia in the quarterfinals before downing fellow Pakistani player Gogi Alauddin.

Subsequently, Qamar Zaman reached the British Open final on four further occasions. He was runner-up to Hunt in 1978, 1979 and 1980, and to Jahangir Khan in 1984. He was also runner-up at the World Open four times, losing to Hunt in the finals of 1976, 1979 and 1980, and to Jahangir in 1984. He also served as secretary KP Olympic Association.