Ahsan Iqbal

Family and education

According to PILDAT, Chaudhary was born on 28 March 1959. According to The News International, he was born on 28 September 1958.

Belonging to a Punjabi Rajput family, his maternal grandfather Chaudhry Abdul Rahman Khan was a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly during the British Raj, later the family had to move out of Jalandhar, now in Indian Punjab, due to the 1947 partition.

His mother Nisar Fatima was the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan on reserved seats for women in the 1985 Pakistani general election.

His brother Mustafa Kamal has served as the chairman of the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA).

Chaudhary received his early education from the PAF College Sargodha. He attended the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore to study mechanical engineering in 1976 from where he graduated with BSc in 1981.

In 1984, Chaudhary attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania from where he did MBA in 1986. Dawn reported that he also attended Government College Lahore, Georgetown University and Harvard University.

Political career

Jamat-i-Islami

Chaudhary started politics as president of the student union of University of Engineering and Technology. He was then associated with Islami Jamiat Tulaba, student wing of the right wing Jamat-i-Islami.

Pakistan Muslim League (N)

In the 1993 Pakistani general election, he became member of the National Assembly for the first time after winning constituency NA-117 of Narowal. In 1993, he served as Policy and Public Affairs Assistant to then Prime Minister of Pakistan.

He was re-elected as the member of the National Assembly for the second time in the 1997 Pakistani general election. when his party PML-N won clear majority in National Assembly for the first time in the history of Pakistan, Chaudhary played his role in several key government positions. He was appointed the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan with the title of Minister of State, chairman Pakistan Engineering Council and was also a chairman for the National Steering Committees on Information Technology and IQM and Productivity. Chaudhary continued on the positions allotted to him till the 1999 Pakistani coup d'état in which then Chief of Army Staff, Pervez Musharraf, overthrew elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his existing elected government. Dawn reported that on Chaudhary's initiative Pakistan's first national IT policy was formulated.

In the 2002 Pakistani general election, he lost the National Assembly seat. During the Musharraf rule, Chaudhary taught management at the Mohammad Ali Jinnah University in Islamabad from 2000 to 2007. Chaudhary is considered a loyalist of Nawaz Sharif who kept the PML-N alive during the Musharraf rule.

In the 2008 Pakistani general election, Chaudhary was re-elected as the member of the National Assembly for the third time. He briefly served as the Minister for Education of Pakistan with an additional portfolio of Minister of Minorities' Affairs in the Gillani ministry. But after PML-N decided to sit on opposition benches due to a disagreement with PPP related to the reinstatement of the judges dismissed by former President Pervez Musharraf in 2007, he resigned six weeks into the newly formed PPP-led coalition government.

In 2011, Chaudhary was elected as Deputy Secretary General of PML-N.

In the 2013 Pakistani general election, Chaudhary was made part of PML-N's central parliamentary board tasked with selecting candidates for the election. Chaudhary was re-elected as the member of the National Assembly for the fourth time in 2013 general election. He was appointed the Minister of Planning and Development as well the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission of Pakistan.

In February 2016, Chaudhary was appointed the United Nations Development Programme's 'champion minister' from the Asia Pacific region in recognition of his efforts to promote the Sustainable Development Goals.

In July 2017, the federal cabinet, which included Chaudhary was disbanded following the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after the Panama Papers case (Pakistan) decision. Following the election of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as Prime Minister of Pakistan, Chaudhary was inducted into the federal cabinet of Abbasi and was appointed Minister for Interior for the first time. On 16 September 2017, he was given the additional charge of Ministry of Planning and Development. In November 2017, he was criticised by the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan Raza Rabbani for not taking Senate in confidence with regards to the crackdown against the 2017 Tehreek-e-Labaik protest which led to resignation of Minister for Law and Justice, Zahid Hamid. Upon the dissolution of the National Assembly on the expiration of its term on 31 May 2018, Chaudhry ceased to hold the office as Federal Minister for Interior and Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform.

He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-78 (Narowal-II) in the 2018 Pakistani general election. He received 159,651 votes and defeated Abrar-ul-Haq, a candidate of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

He was arrested on 23 December 2019 by the NAB, over the alleged Narowal sports complex corruption charges. He was eventually released after 90 days in custody, as the NAB failed to come up with a case against him.

He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from NA-76 Narowal-II in the 2024 Pakistani general election. He received 137,042 and defeated Javaid Safdar Kahlon, a Independent politician, (PTI) Supported Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Assassination attempt

In May 2018, Chaudhary was shot and wounded at a political rally in his home constituency Narowal in an apparent assassination attempt. He was airlifted from Narowal to Lahore for surgery where he was said to be in stable condition. The attacker, found to be linked with Tehreek-e-Labaik, was arrested from the spot. In his police statement he confessed that he tried to assassinate Chaudhry on the issue of the blasphemy laws.

Writings

He has written op-eds for The News International, an English-language daily newspaper.

References

References

1. (23 March 2011). "Detail Information".
2. "If elections are held on time…". thenews.com.pk.
3. Burki, Shahid Javed. (2015). "Historical Dictionary of Pakistan". Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
4. (7 June 2013). "Experience and loyalty count in the PML-N kitchen cabinet". Dawn.
5. "Ahsal Iqbal, Dawn profile". Dawn newspapers.
6. (25 October 2019). "PHA reveals former chairman's scam".
7. "Minister for Interior and Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal".
8. (6 May 2018). "Who is Ahsan Iqbal?". DAWN.COM.
9. (14 May 2008). "Gilani to sit on resignations till Asif's return: Decision final: Nisar". Dawn.
10. (31 March 2008). "Swearing-in today to mark belated birth of cabinet". Dawn.
11. (15 April 2008). "Minorities rights to be safeguarded, says Gilani". Dawn.
12. (27 July 2011). "Nawaz Sharif elected unopposed PML-N president". Dawn.
13. (26 March 2013). "'Loyalists dominate' N parliamentary board". Dawn.
14. (11 May 2013). "Another win: PML-N's Ahsan Iqbal clobbers PTI's Abrarul Haq – The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune.
15. (7 June 2013). "26 member Cabinet to take oath today". Aaj News.
16. (7 June 2013). "Sharif's 25-member cabinet takes oath". Dawn.
17. (7 June 2013). "U.S. Drone Strike Kills at Least 7 in Pakistan as New Prime Minister Announces Cabinet". The New York Times.
18. (8 June 2013). "Federal cabinet unveiled: Enter the ministers – The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune.
19. (11 June 2013). "Planning Commission to be made think tank". DAWN.COM.
20. (26 February 2016). "Ahsan Iqbal appointed UNDP's 'champion minister'". Dawn.
21. "PM Nawaz Sharif steps down; federal cabinet stands dissolved". Daily Pakistan Global.
22. (4 August 2017). "PM Abbasi's cabinet takes oath". DAWN.COM.
23. (4 August 2017). "Pakistan Swears in New Federal Cabinet". Newsweek Pakistan.
24. (16 September 2017). "Ahsan gets planning commission portfolio". The Nation.
25. (16 September 2017). "Allying Chinese concerns: Iqbal will also head planning ministry – The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune.
26. (28 November 2017). "Accord with protesters threat to democracy". The Nation.
27. (28 November 2017). "Raza Rabbani displeased over PM's departure to Saudi Arabia amid protests". Pakistan Today.
28. (28 November 2017). "PM in Jeddah, no one around to answer questions: Rabbani". The News.
29. (27 November 2017). "What forced govt to sign agreement with Faizabad protesters, asks Rabbani". DAWN.COM.
30. "Notification". Cabinet division.
31. (26 July 2018). "Ahsan Iqbal of PML-N wins NA-78 election". Associated Press of Pakistan.
32. "NA-78 Result – Election Results 2018 – Narowal 2 – NA-78 Candidates – NA-78 Constituency Details – thenews.com.pk".
33. (23 December 2019). "NAB arrests PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal".
34. "NAB fails to file reference against Ahsan Iqbal".
35. "Election Commission of Pakistan".
36. (6 May 2018). "Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal injured in assassination attempt during Narowal corner meeting". Dawn News.
37. (6 May 2018). "Pakistan Interior Minister, Champion of Minorities, Is Shot". The New York Times.
38. "Pakistani interior minister shot by man linked to new religious...". U.S..
39. (7 May 2018). "Attack on interior minister: Shooter 'showed affiliation' with Tehreek-i-Labbaik, DC Narowal says". DAWN.COM.
40. "Police arrest accomplice of Ahsan Iqbal attacker".
41. "Writer profile".