Shah Mahmood Qureshi

Early life and education

Qureshi was born on 22 June 1956 in Multan, Punjab to a wealthy, political and prominent Makhdoom Qureshi family. His family is of saintly lineage and caretakers of the Shrine of Bahauddin Zakariya in Multan, which provides the family with substantial income, as well votes during the elections. However, in 2014, he rejected the claims saying "I have never used religion for political gain. I have never dragged devotees of Sufi saints in political matters, and those who vote for me do it of their free will." after his brother accused Qureshi was using the names of Sufi saints for political gains and Qureshi using donations for the PTI.

Qureshi is fluent in Urdu, English, Punjabi and Saraiki. Qureshi's father Makhdoom Sajjad Hussain Qureshi was former member of Senate of Pakistan and 15th Governor of the Punjab from 1985 to 1988 and was close friend of then President of Pakistan Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq who appointed him as governor of Punjab. Qureshi received his early education from Aitchison College, Lahore, a bachelor's from Forman Christian College and received MA (Law) and MA (History) degree from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He also holds a B.A. degree from University of the Punjab.

Qureshi is married and he is a father of one son, named Zain Hussain Qureshi and two daughters. Qureshi is an agriculturalist and was the president of the Farmers Association of Pakistan.

Political career

Qureshi was elected for the first time to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from Multan in the 1985 Pakistani general election which were held on a non-party basis during the military government of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. He joined the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) in 1986.

Pakistan Muslim League (N)

Qureshi later joined the faction of PML led by Nawaz Sharif, which would later become PML (N). When PML split in 1988 after the death of Zia-ul-Haq, and was re-elected for the second time to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from Multan in the 1988 Pakistani general election and served as the Minister of Planning and Development in the provincial cabinet of Punjab of then Chief Minister of Punjab Nawaz Sharif from November 1988 to August 1990.

Qureshi was re-elected for the third time to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from Multan as a candidate of PML N in the 1990 Pakistani general election and served as the Minister of Finance in Chief Minister Manzoor Wattoo's provincial cabinet of Punjab from 1990 to 1993.

Pakistan People's Party

In 1993 he joined the Pakistan People's Party. Qureshi was elected for the first time to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Multan as a candidate of PPP in the 1993 Pakistani general election. He was appointed Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs under then Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto ministry. In November 1996, he was appointed the spokesman of PPP.

Qureshi was defeated in the 1997 Pakistani general election by Makhdoom Javed Hashmi of PML-N. He was offered a position in the Council of Economic Advisers to then President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf, which he refused.

Qureshi served as the District Nazim (mayor) of Multan from 2000 to 2002. During his mayor period, he well administered the Multan district and oversaw a number of development projects.

He was re-elected for the second time to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Multan in the 2002 Pakistani general election on PPP seat and defeated Makhdoom Javed Hashmi. Reportedly, he used his influence as a mayor of Multan to win the 2002 elections. In 2006, Benazir Bhutto appointed Qureshi as the President of Pakistan Peoples Party Punjab to revive the popularity of PPP in southern Punjab given his good experience. Reportedly, Qureshi slapped an officer for beating a party activist of PPP in 2006.

He was re-elected for the third time to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Multan in the 2008 Pakistani general election.

First term as Foreign minister

Reportedly, Qureshi was a potential candidate for the Prime Minister of Pakistan in the coalition government headed by the PPP. However,

After taking charge of the office, Qureshi immediately made clear that he was committed to establishing peace in the region and that maintaining friendly ties with neighbouring India were amongst his top priorities. Qureshi went on his first visit as foreign minister to China in October 2008 with then Defence Minister of Pakistan Ahmad Mukhtar and then President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari.

In 2011, Qureshi faced criticism in Pakistan when it was discovered that his son, Zain H. Qureshi, was working as a Legislative Fellow in the office of Senator John Kerry.

In February 2011, the Government of Pakistan reduced the number of cabinet seats and during the transition, Qureshi was offered the position of Minister of Water and Power. He declined, saying that he was "not interested in water and power ministry in place of foreign affairs."

In February 2011, he lost the portfolio of Foreign Minister following the Raymond Davis affair.

In November 2011, Qureshi resigned from the PPP where he had been for the past 20 years. He also quit his National Assembly membership saying that "I had joined the PPP under Benazir Bhutto’s leadership, and PPP was no longer a party of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto; it is now Zardari league. He said he did not want to be a part of Zardari league and announced to resign from the party membership."

Qureshi is one of three prominent politicians from Multan District, the other two being the Yousaf Raza Gillani and Javed Hashmi (Multan II) and are considered political rivals to each other. It was reported that Qureshi would re-join PML-N.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf

In late November 2011, Qureshi announced joining the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) at a rally in Ghotki. On 4 December 2011, he was appointed the first Vice Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf as its parliamentary leader in National Assembly of Pakistan. In 2016 intra-party elections, Qureshi was re-appointed the Vice Chairman of PTI, which is considered one of the three senior most positions in the party. He was re-elected to the National Assembly from Multan in the 2013 Pakistani general election on the ticket of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Second term as Foreign minister

He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PTI from Constituency NA-156 (Multan-III) in the 2018 Pakistani general election. Following his successful election, he emerged as PTI's nominee for the office of Speaker of the National Assembly. Reportedly, Imran Khan convinced him to take the office because of his long parliamentary experience. However, Qureshi showed reluctance to take the portfolio.

On 18 August, Imran Khan formally announced his federal cabinet structure and Qureshi was named as Minister for Foreign Affairs. On 20 August 2018, he was sworn in as Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs in the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

On 21 May 2021, while he was in New York City at an emergency session held by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 May to discuss a response to the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, Qureshi conducted an interview with American journalist Bianna Golodryga on CNN. During the interview, Qureshi stated: "Israel is losing out. They're losing the media war despite their connections"; Golodryga asked, "What are their connections?"; to which Qureshi replied, "Deep pockets." before elaborating further: "Well, they are very influential people. I mean, they control media." Golodryga responded, "I would call that an antisemitic remark," and the comment sparked controversy and a public discussion of Jewish stereotypes.

Arrest and Imprisonment

On 20 August 2023, Qureshi was arrested by authorities due to his relation to Lettergate on the basis of using the diplomatic “cypher” cable for political gains. He was tried on charges of making state secrets public in violation of the Official Secrets Act. The Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered his release from Adiala jail, though he was re-arrested on 27 December 2023. His re-arrest drew widespread criticism from PTI and international observers for mistreatment as Qureshi was manhandled and dragged to his jail cell by police. PTI stated that his arrest was a sign of fascism in Pakistan. Former President Arif Alvi stated that "treating an ex foreign minister from two regimes in an undignified manner must draw the attention of the authorities."

Personal life

On 3 July 2020, Qureshi announced he had tested positive for COVID-19 days after holding high-profile meetings including one with U.S. special representative on Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad in Islamabad. He eventually recovered.

References

References

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40. Hasan, Mehdi. (16 May 2021). "Let's not discuss Israel-Palestine "through lazy racist tropes about devious, all-powerful Jews or violent Muslim terrorists..the violence there is bad enough without the rest of us adding a layer of brazen bigotry to it." My #minuterant on @MSNBC tonight: https://t.co/XkwH6r7tKM".
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45. Shah Mahmood Qureshi. (3 July 2020). "This afternoon I felt a slight fever and immediately quarantined myself at home. I have now tested positive for Covid 19. By the grace of Allah, I feel strong and energetic. I will continue to carry on my duties from home.".