Calling him “Pakistan's most extraordinary politician”, a newspaper editorial said the following after his death in September 2003:
“The Nawabzada was a thorn in the side of every party in power and a true comforter of those 'in the wilderness'. That is why it isn't surprising to note that some of his tribute-makers today are known to have criticised him and questioned his credentials when they were in power. His great achievement lay in the fact that he became the great alliance-maker among politicians who could not communicate with one another and were more prone to look to the army as their arbiter. By Pakistani standards of dictatorship and democracy he was a great man, even though he was sometimes seen in the role of an anarchist who was constantly facilitating the fall of every imperfect government.”