Ishratul Ibad Khan is a politician who served as the 30th Governor of Sindh, Pakistan. lbad is a Pakistan-born citizen and he also holds dual nationality as a British citizen. He took up the post of Governor of Sindh, Pakistan on 27 December 2002, becoming the youngest governor to hold the office. After a fight with his cousin Dr Mohsin,on 16 July 2008, he became the province's longest-serving governor. He resigned on 27 June 2011, but his resignation was not accepted by the President of Pakistan. He resumed his official Governor duties from Tuesday, 19 July 2011. On 9 November 2016, he was removed as Governor of Sindh and replaced by Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui.
On 22 April 2015, the chief of MQM Altaf Hussain delinked Ibad from the party and asked his party workers not to expect any relief and cooperation from Ishratul Ibad Khan. Under the Constitution of Pakistan, the Governor of a province, as the representative of the President, must remain apolitical and neutral thus cannot be associated with or be a member of any political party.
Links with Establishment
An Urdu column published in the Daily Jang claims that Ishrat ul Ibad had practically become 'Pindi Boy' in 2011 and was very close with General Raheel Shareef. Ibad knew that his Governorship would be soon replaced after Raheel's retirement. He admitted in his interview that one cannot rule in Pakistan without serving the military establishment.
Achievements and developments
Ishrat-ul-Ebad played a key role in defusing tension and violence in the province by holding political talks with members of other political parties. He was also involved in securing the release of 22 hostages from Somalian pirates, with the partnership of Ansar Burney who leads a human rights organisation. A number of development projects were started during Ebad's time in the office, including Nagan Chowrangi flyover. He is working on a long term project to make Karachi a greener city. The Beach View Park was constructed under his supervision. It was a part of the Grand Recreation Project. This park is spread over an area of and constructed along 3.7 km of the coastal driveway. Also, under his supervision, a park Bagh Ibne Qasim was constructed, located in Clifton, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The park was established on 27 February 2007, and is the largest in the country, constructed under Clifton Beach Development Project on of land. This park replaced the former Toyland Theme Park. The park cost PKR 600 million and was completed in around 310 working days. It is estimated that more than 10 million people visit the park per year. Prior to the initiation of construction on Bagh Ibne Qasim, of land was acquired from property speculators.
