Hazara may refer to:

People

The Hazara people, an Iranian ethno-linguistic group in central Afghanistan and south western Pakistan

Hazara-i-Karlugh, Qarluq soldiers of various dynasties in Central Asia and Pakistan

Places

in Pakistan

Hazara, Pakistan, a region in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Hazara Division, an administrative subdivision of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Hazara District, a district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa until 1976

Hazara, Swat, village in Swat District in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

Hazara Town, an area of the city of Quetta

Kala Dhaka, also known as the Black Mountain of Hazara, a mountain range and a tribal area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

in Afghanistan

Hazarajat, central highlands region of Afghanistan.

ca:Hazara de:Hazara

Group	Hazāraهزاره

|region3 = |pop3 = 956,000|ref2 = |region2 = |pop2 = 1,567,000 ''(1993 estimate)'' |ref3 = |region4 = |pop4 = 180,000 |region5 = |pop5 = 90,000 |region6 = |pop6 = 54,230 |region7 = |pop7 = 48,090 |region8 = |pop8 = 33,320 |pop9 = 10,000 |ref4 = |languages = Persian (predominantly Dari and Hazaragi dialects) |religions = Shia Islam (Twelver and Ismaili), with a Sunni minority |related = Persians, other Iranian peoples, Mongols }} The Hazāra () are a Persian-speaking people who mainly live in central Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are overwhelmingly Shia Muslims and comprise the third largest ethnic group of Afghanistan, forming about 9% (according to other sources up to 18%) of the total population. Over half a million Hazaras live in neighbouring Pakistan (especially in the city of Quetta) and a similar number in Iran.

Etymology

Babur, the founder of the Mughal reign in India, used the name ''Hazara'' in his records during the early 16th century for the first time. He, for the most part, referred to the populace of the mountainous region located west of Kabul, as far as Ghor and Ghazni. The word ''Hazara'' most likely derives from the Persian word for ''Thousand'' ( - ''hazār''). It may be the translation of the Mongol word ''ming'' (or ''minggan''), a military unit of 1000 soldiers at the time Gengis Khan. In the passage of time the term ''Hazar'' could have substituted the Mongol word and now stands for the group of people.

Origin theories

The origins of the Hazaras have not been fully reconstructed. At least partial Mongol descent is difficult to rule out, because the Hazaras' physical attributes and parts of their culture and language resemble those of Mongolians. Thus, it is widely accepted that Hazaras have Mongolian ancestry, especially after genetic testing showed Hazaras carried the highest frequency of the Y chromosome attributed to Genghis Khan anywhere. Some Hazara tribes are named after famous Mongol generals, for example the Tulai Khan Hazara who are named after Tolui, the youngest son of Genghis Khan. Theories of Mongol or partially Mongol descent are plausible, given that the Il-Khanate Mongol rulers, beginning with Oljeitu, embraced Shia Islam. Today, the majority of the Hazaras adhere to Shi'ism, whereas Afghanistan's other major ethnic groups are mostly Sunni. However, the Sunni and Ismaili Hazara population, while existent, have not been extensively researched by scholars.

Another popular theory proposes that Hazaras are descendants of the Kushans, the ancient dwellers of Afghanistan famous for constructing the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Its proponents find the location of the Hazara homeland, and the similarity in facial features of Hazaras with those on frescoes and Buddha's statues in Bamiyan, suggestive. However, this belief is contrary not only to the fact that the Kushans were Indo-European Tocharians, but also to historical records which mention that in a particularly bloody battle around Bamiyan, Genghis Khan's grandson, Mutugen, was killed, and he ordered Bamiyan to be burnt to the ground in retribution.

The theory accepted by most scholars, however, maintains that Hazaras are a mixed group. This is not entirely inconsistent with descent from Mongol military forces. For example, Nikudari Mongols settled in eastern Persia and mixed with native populations who spoke Persian. A second wave of mostly Chagatai Mongols came from Central Asia and were followed by other Turko-Mongols, associated with the Ilkhanate (driven out of Persia) and the Timurids, all of whom settled in Hazarajat and mixed with the local Persian population, forming a distinct group.

Genetics

Genetically, the Hazara are primarily western Eurasian with eastern Eurasian genetic mixtures. Genetic research suggests that they are related to neighboring peoples, while there also seems to be a patrimonial relation to Mongol peoples of Mongolia. Mongol male ancestry is supported by studies in genetic genealogy as well, which have identified a particular lineage of the Y-chromosome characteristic of people of Mongolian descent ("the Y-chromosome of Genghis Khan"). This chromosome is virtually absent outside the limits of the Mongol Empire except among the Hazara, where it reaches its highest frequency anywhere.

R1b1a1 (2011 name) is defined by the presence of SNP marker M73. It has been found at generally low frequencies throughout central Eurasia, but has been found with relatively high frequency among particular populations there including Hazaras in Pakistan (8/25 = 32%).

History

Emergence of the Hazara

In the late 16th century, the first mention of Hazaras are made by the court historians of Shah Abbas of the Safavid dynasty and by Babur.

18th century

In their modern history, Hazaras have faced several wars and forced displacements. Since the beginnings of modern Afghanistan in the mid 18th century, Hazaras have faced persecution from the Pashtuns and have been forced to flee from many parts of today's Afghanistan to Hazarajat. In the mid 18th century they were forced out of Helmand and the Arghandab basin of Kandahar. During Dost Mohammad Khan's rule, Hazaras in Bamiyan and the Hazarajat area were heavily taxed. However, for the most part they still managed to keep their regional autonomy in Hazarajat. This would soon change as the new Emir, Abdur Rahman Khan, was brought to power.

Subjugation by Abdur Rahman Khan

As the new Emir, Abdur Rahman set out a goal to bring Hazarajat under his control. After facing resistance from the Hazaras, he launched several campaigns in Hazarajat with many atrocities and ethnic polarization. The southern part of Hazarajat was spared as they accepted Abdur Rahman's rule, while the other parts of Hazarajat rejected Abdur Rahman and supported his uncle, Sher Ali Khan. Abdur Rahman waged war against Hazaras who rejected his policies and rule.

In 1856 Abdur Rahman arrested Syed Jafar, chief of Sheikh Ali Hazara, and jailed him in Mazar-e-Sharif. The first Hazara uprising took place during 1888–90. When Abdur Rahman's cousin, Mohammad Eshaq, revolted against him, the Sheikh Ali Hazaras joined the revolt. The revolt was short lived and crushed as the Emir extended his control over large parts of Hazarajat. Sheikh Ali Hazaras had allies in two different groups, Shia and Sunni. Abdur Rahman took advantage of the situation, pitting Sunni Hazaras against Shia Hazaras, and made pacts among Hazaras.

After all of Sheikh Ali Hazara chiefs were sent to Kabul, opposition within the leadership of Sawar Khan and Syed Jafar Khan continued against government troops, but at last were defeated. Heavy taxes were imposed and Pashtun administrators were sent to occupied places, where they subjugated the people with many abuses. The people were disarmed, villages were looted, local tribal chiefs were imprisoned or executed, and the best lands were confiscated and given to Pashtun nomads (Kuchis).

Second uprising

The second uprising occurred in 1890–93. The cause of the uprising was the rape of the wife of a Hazara chief by 33 Afghan soldiers. The soldiers had entered their house under the pretext of searching for weapons and raped the chief's wife in front of him. The families of the Hazara chief and his wife retaliated against the humiliation, killed the soldiers and attacked the local garrison, where they took back their weapons. Several other tribal chiefs who supported Abdur Rahman now turned against him and joined the rebellion which rapidly spread through the entire Hazarajat. In response to the rebellion, the Emir declared a "jihad" against the Shiites and raised an army of 40, 000 soldiers, 10, 000 mounted troops, and 100,000 armed civilians (most of which were Pashtun nomads). He also brought in British military advisers to assist his army. The large army defeated the rebellion at its center, in Oruzgan, by 1892 and the local population was severely massacred. According to S. A. Mousavi:

Third uprising

The third uprising of Hazaras was in response to the harsh repression, the Hazaras revolted again by early 1893. This revolt took the government forces by surprise and the Hazaras managed to take most of Hazarajat back. However, after months of fighting, they were eventually defeated due to a shortage of food. Small pockets of resistance continued to the end of the year as government troops committed atrocities against civilians and deported entire villages.

Abdur Rahman's subjugation of the Hazaras due to fierce rebellion against the Afghan king gave birth to strong hatred between the Pashtuns and Hazaras for years to come. Massive forced displacements, especially in Oruzgan and Daychopan, continued as lands were confiscated and populations were expelled or fled. Some 35,000 families fled to northern Afghanistan, Mashhad (Iran), Quetta (Pakistan), and even as far as Central Asia. It is estimated that more than 60% of the Hazara population were massacred or displaced during Abdur Rahman's campaign against them. Hazara farmers were often forced to give up their property to Pashtuns and as a result many Hazara families had to leave seasonally to the major cities in Afghanistan, Iran, or Pakistan in order to find jobs and a source of income. Pakistan is now home to one of the largest settlements of Hazara, particularly in and around the city of Quetta. Pashtun–Hazara conflicts were and are based solely on Shi'a–Sunni relations, thus the conflict was continued by the Taliban.

Hazaras in the 20th century

In 1901, Habibullah Khan, Abdur Rahman's successor, granted amnesty to all people who were exiled by his predecessor. However, the division between the Afghan government and the Hazara people was already made too deep under Abdur Rahman. Hazaras continued to face severe social, economic and political discrimination through most of the 20th century.

Mistrust of the central government by the Hazaras and local uprisings continued. In particular, in the 1940s, during Zahir Shah's rule, a revolt took place against new taxes that were exclusively imposed on the Hazaras. The Pashtun nomads meanwhile not only were exempted from taxes, but also received allowances from the Afghan government. The angry rebels began capturing and killing government officials. In response, the central government sent a force to subdue the region and later removed the taxes.

Soviet invasion to the Taliban era

During the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the Hazarajat region did not see as much heavy fighting like other regions of Afghanistan. However, rival Hazara political factions fought. The division was between the ''Tanzáim-e nasl-e naw-e Hazara'', a party based in Quetta, of Hazara nationalists and secular intellectuals, and the pro-Khomeini Islamist parties backed by the new ''Islamic Republic of Iran''. By 1979, the Iran-backed Islamist groups liberated Hazarajat from the central Soviet-backed Afghan government and later took entire control of Hazarajat away from the secularists. By 1984, after severe fighting, the secularist groups lost all their power to the Islamists.

As the Soviets withdrew in 1989, the Islamist groups felt the need to broaden their political appeal and turned their focus to Hazara ethnic nationalism. This led to establishment of the Hezb-e Wahdat, an alliance of all the Hazara resistance groups (except the ''Harakat-e Islami''). In 1992, with the fall of Kabul, the ''Harakat-e Islami'' took sides with Burhanuddin Rabbani's government while the Hezb-e Wahdat took sides with the opposition. The Hezb-e Wahdat was eventually forced out of Kabul in 1995 when the Pashtun Taliban movement captured and killed their leader Abdul Ali Mazari. With the Taliban's capture of Kabul in 1996, all the Hazara groups united with the new Northern Alliance against the common new enemy. However, it was too late and despite the fierce resistance Hazarajat fell to the Taliban by 1998. The Taliban had Hazarajat totally isolated from the rest of the world going as far as not allowing the United Nations to deliver food to the provinces of Bamiyan, Ghor, Wardak, and Daykundi.

Though Hazaras played a role in the anti-Soviet movement, other Hazaras participated in the new Communist government, which actively courted Afghan minorities. Sultan Ali Kishtmand, a Hazara, served as prime minister of Afghanistan from 1981-1990 (with one brief interruption in 1988). The Ismaili Hazaras of Baghlan Province likewise supported the Communists, and their ''pir'' (religious leader) Jaffar Naderi led a pro-Communist militia in the region.

During the years that followed, Hazaras suffered severe oppression and many large ethnic massacres were carried out by the predominately ethnic Pashtun Taliban and are documented by such groups as the Human Rights Watch. These human rights abuses not only occurred in Hazarajat, but across all areas controlled by the Taliban. Particularly after their capture of Mazar-e Sharif in 1998, where after a massive killing of some 8000 civilians, the Taliban openly declared that the Hazaras would be targeted.

Hazaras in post-Taliban Afghanistan

Following the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States, British and American forces invaded Afghanistan. Since then, the situation for Afghans in Afghanistan has changed drastically in Kabul but the country largely remains lawless at the hands of equally brutal afghan police forces. Hazaras have pursued higher education, enrolled in the army, and have top government positions. For example, Mohammad Mohaqiq, a Hazara from the Hezb-e Wahdat party, was able to run in the 2004 presidential election in Afghanistan, and Karim Khalili became the Vice President of Afghanistan. A number of ministers and governors are Hazaras, including Sima Samar, Habiba Sarabi, Ramazan Bashardost, Sarwar Danish, Sayed Hussein Anwari, Abdul Haq Shafaq, Sayed Anwar Rahmati, Qurban Ali Oruzgani and many others. The mayor of Nili in Daykundi Province is Azra Jafari, who became the first female mayor in Afghanistan. The National Assembly of Afghanistan (Parliament) is 25% made up of ethnic Hazaras, which represents 61 members. However, discrimination still lingers, and even accusations of genocide. An indication of discrimination is the policy of allocating international help by the Afghan government. Hazarajat historically has been kept from any improvement by past governments. Since ousting the Taliban, several billion dollars have poured into Afghanistan for reconstruction and numerous mega-scale reconstruction projects took place in Afghanistan. But effectively a very small portion of international aid was allocated in the central regions of Afghanistan, the Hazarajat area. For example, there have been more than 5000 kilometers of road pavement and construction in Afghanistan, of which almost none happened in central Afghanistan Hazarajat. Another indication of such discrimination is that Kochis (Afghan nomads from western Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan) are allowed now to use Hazarajat pastures in summer time. This practice started during the rule of Amir Abdurahman Khan for punishing Hazaras.

Living in mountainous Hazarajat where little farm land exists, Hazara people rely on these pasture lands for their livelihood and survival during long and harsh winters. In 2007 heavily armed Kochis moved into Hazarajat to graze their livestock, and when the local people resisted, it is reported that they clashed and several people died on both sides, Kochis and Hazara. Such a practice happened in 2008, and the government appears to approve this practice. Kochis belong to the Pashtun ethnic group, as do the Taliban.

In 2010, the drive by President Hamid Karzai after the Peace Jirga to strike a deal with Taliban leaders caused deep unease in Afghanistan’s minority communities, who fought the Taliban the longest and suffered the most during their rule. The leaders of the Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara communities, which together make up close to half of the country's population, vowed to resist any return of the Taliban to power, referring to the large-scale massacres of Hazara civilians during the Taliban period.

Geographic distribution

Diaspora

Alessandro Monsutti argues, in his recent anthropological book, that migration is the traditional way of life of the Hazara people, referring to the seasonal and historical migrations which have never ceased and do not seem to be dictated only by emergency situations such as war.

Besides the major populations of Hazaras in Quetta (Pakistan)—where many have achieved considerably high positions within the government and police force—and Iran, there are significant communities in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and particularly the Northern European countries such as Sweden and Denmark. Many young Hazara are studying in developed countries such as Australia, legally through education or work visas. There are many Afghan Hazara who have migrated to developed countries especially in Australia as refugees. The notable case was the Tampa affair in which a shipload of refugees, mostly Hazaras, was rescued by the Norwegian freighter ''MV Tampa'' and subsequently sent to Nauru. New Zealand agreed to take some of the refugees and all but one of those were approved.

Hazaras in Pakistan

Hazaras had been seasonal menial workers in British India, who came here in winter months to work in coal mines, road construction etc. during the British expansion in sindh, Balochistan and North west Frontier. The earliest record of Hazaras in the areas of present day Pakistan are found in the Broad-foot's sappers company in 1835 at Quetta. This sappers company participated in the first Anglo Afghan war also. Besides this Hazaras also worked in the agriculture farms in Sindh and construction of Sukkur barrage. Haider Ali Karmal Jaghori was a prominent political thinker of the Hazara people in Pakistan writing about the Political history of Hazara people. His work ''Hazaraha wa Hazarajat Bastan Dar Aiyna-e-Tarikh'' was published in Quetta in 1992, and another work by Aziz Tughyan Hazara ''Tarikh Milli Hazara'' was published in 1984 in Quetta.

In Pakistan today, most of the Hazara people (upto half a million) live in the city of Quetta, in Balochistan province. Localities in the city of Quetta with prominent Hazara populations include Hazara Town and Mehr Abad. The Hazara ethnic minority have been facing discrimination in the province for a very long time, nevertheless, bloody violence perpetrated against them has risen very sharply in recent years. 700 people including women and children have been killed so far. No one has been arrested to this date in connection with these killings.

Literacy level among the Hazara community in Pakistan is relatively high and they have integrated well into the social dynamics of the local society. Saira Batool, a Hazara woman was one of the first female pilots in Pakistan Air Force. Other notable Hazara include Qazi Mohammad Esa, General Muhammad Musa, who served as Commander in Chief of the Pakistani Army from 1958 to 1968, Air Marshal(r) Sharbat Ali Changezi, Hussain Ali Yousafi slain chairman of the Hazara Democratic Party, Syed Nasir Ali Shah, MNA from Quetta. Agha Abbas and his son Agha Ghulam Ali, owners of Agha Juice , a famous fruit juice outlet in the country since 1960, who were murdered in may 2003 and jan 2007. The political representation of the community is served by Hazara Democratic Party, a secular liberal democratic party, headed by Abdul Khaliq Hazara..

Hazaras in Iran

Over the many years as a result of political unrest in Afghanistan many Hazaras have migrated to Iran. They have complained of maltreatments in Iran. In March 2011, Eurasia Daily Monitor reported that representatives of Hazaras community in Iran have asked Mongolia to intervene in supporting their case with Iranian government and prevent Iranian forced repatriation to Afghanistan.

Culture

The Hazara, outside of Hazarajat, have adopted the cultures of the cities where they dwell, and in many cases are quite Persianized. Traditionally the Hazara are highland farmers and although sedentary like the Tajiks, in the Hazarajat, they have retained many of their own customs and traditions, some of which are more closely related to those of Central Asia than to Iran. For instance, many Hazara musicians are widely hailed as being skilled in playing the dambura, a regional and native instrument, a lute instrument similarly found in other Central Asian nations such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia.

Food and cuisine

Language

Hazaras living in rural areas speak Hazaragi, an eastern dialect of the Persian language with a significant number of Turkic and some Mongolian loan words.

Many of the urban Hazaras in the larger cities such as Kabul and Mazari Sharif no longer speak Hazaragi but speak standard literary Persian (usually the ''Kābolī'' dialect) or regional varieties of Persian (for example the ''Khorāsānī'' dialect in the western region of Herat).

Until recently, a very small number of Hazaras near Herat still spoke the Moghol language, a Mongolic language once spoken by rebels against the Mongol armies of the Il-Khanat.

Religion

Hazaras are predominantly Shi'a Muslims, mostly of the Twelver sect and some Ismaili. Since the majority of Afghans practice Sunni Islam, this probably contributed to the discrimination against the Hazaras. Hazaras probably converted from Sunnism to Shi'ism during the reign of the Il-Khanate ruler Oljeitu (1304–1316), or during the first part of the 16th century, in the early days of the Safavid Dynasty. Nonetheless, a small number of Hazaras are Sunni. Sunni Hazaras have been attached to non-Hazara tribes while the Ismaili Hazaras have always been kept separate from the rest of the Hazaras on account of religious beliefs and political purposes.

Hazara tribes

The Hazara people have been organized by various tribes. The daizangi are the largest tribe, representing 57.2% of the Hazara population. However, more recently and since the inclusion of the Hazaras into the "Afghan state", tribal affiliations have been disappearing and former tribal names Turkmani, Sheikh Ali, Jaghori, Ghaznichi, Behsoodi, Uruzgani, and Daiznagi are also disappearing. The different Hazara tribes come from regions such as Parwan, Bamyan, and Ghazni.

Sports

Twenty-one-year-old Rohullah Nikpai, an ethnic Hazara, won a bronze medal in taekwondo in the Beijing Olympics 2008, beating world champion Juan Antonio Ramos of Spain 4–1 in a play-off final. It was Afghanistan's first-ever Olympic medal. Afghanistan's first female Olympic athlete Friba Razayee competed in judo at the 2004 Athens Olympics, but was eliminated in the first round of competition. Other famous Hazara athletes are Syed Abdul Jalil Waiz (Badminton) and Ali Hazara (Football). Syed Abdul Jalil Waiz is the first Hazara badminton player who represented the country in Asian Junior Championships in 2005 where he produced the first win for the country against Iraq, winning 15–13, 15–1. He participated in several international championships since 2005 and achieved victories against Australia, Philippines, and Mongolia. Syed Abrar Hussain Shah, a boxer, competed in the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, the Seoul Olympics 1988, and the New Zealand Commonwealth Games in 1990. In Pakistan, Hazaras have excelled in sports and have received numerous awards particularly in boxing, football and in field hockey.

Discrimination

Notable people

See also

Demography of Afghanistan

Hezbe Wahdat Islami Afghanistan

Persian-speaking people

Iranian peoples

Hazarajat

Nikudari

Hazara Town

Mehrabad Alamdar Road

Notes and references

Further reading

External links

Hazara People International Network

Afghanistan - Brief History

Hazara tribal structure, Program for Culture and Conflict Studies, US Naval Postgraduate School

"The Outsiders: Afghanistan's Hazaras"—''National Geographic''

Hazaragiradio.net

Ethnologue.com's entry on Hazaragi

Google Groups: Azaranica

Category:Hazara people Category:Hazara history Category:Ethnic groups in Afghanistan Category:Ethnic groups in Pakistan Category:Iranian peoples Category:Social groups of Balochistan, Pakistan Category:Mughal clans of Pakistan Category:Shi'a Islam in Afghanistan Category:Shi'a communities

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name	Imran Khan Niaziعمران خان نیازی
birth date	November 25, 1952
birth place	Lahore, West Punjab, Dominion of Pakistan
party	Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
spouse	Jemima Khan (1995–2004)
children	Sulaiman Qasim Khan
residence	Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
occupation	Politician Philanthropist Cricketer
religion	Islam
alma mater	Keble College, Oxford
website	PTI }}

Imran Khan Niazi (}}; born 25 November 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former cricketer, playing international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century. After retiring, he entered politics. Currently, besides his political activism, Khan is also a philanthropist, cricket commentator, Chancellor of the University of Bradford and Founder and Chairman Board of Governors of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre.

Arguably Pakistan's most successful cricket captain, Khan played for the Pakistani cricket team from 1971 to 1992 and served as its captain intermittently throughout 1982–1992. After retiring from cricket at the end of the 1987 World Cup, he was called back to join the team in 1988. At 39, Khan led his teammates to Pakistan's first and only World Cup victory in 1992. He has a record of 3807 runs and 362 wickets in Test cricket, making him one of eight world cricketers to have achieved an 'All-rounder's Triple' in Test matches. On 14 July 2010, Khan was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

In April 1996, Khan founded and became the chairman of a political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice). He represented Mianwali as a member of the National Assembly from November 2002 to October 2007. Foreign Policy magazine has described him as Pakistan's Ron Paul.

Through worldwide fundraising, he has also helped establish the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre in 1996 and Mianwali's Namal College in 2008.

Family, education, and personal life

Imran Khan was born in Lahore, the only son of Ikramullah Khan Niazi, and his wife Shaukat Khanum. Although long settled in Punjab, the family were of Pashtun (Pathan) ethnicity and belonged to the Niazi Shermankhel tribe of Mianwali. A quiet and shy boy in his youth, Khan grew up with his four sisters in relatively affluent (upper middle-class) circumstances and received a privileged education. He was educated the Cathedral School in Lahore, the Royal Grammar School Worcester in England, where he excelled at cricket, and at Aitchison College, Lahore. In 1972, he enrolled to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Keble College, Oxford, where he graduated with a second-class degree in Politics and a third in Economics. Khan's mother hailed from the Burki family which had produced several successful hockey players, as also cricketers such as Javed Burki and Majid Khan. Early in life, Khan developed an interest in cricket, which is an extremely popular sport in Pakistan.

Marriage to Jemima Marcelle Goldsmith

On 16 May 1995, Khan married Jemima Goldsmith, in an Islamic ceremony in Paris. A month later, on 21 June, they were married again in a civil ceremony at the Richmond register office in England, followed by a reception at the Goldsmiths' house in Surrey. The marriage, described as "tough" by Khan, produced two sons, Sulaiman Isa (born 18 November 1996) and Kasim (born 10 April 1999). As an agreement of his marriage, Khan spent four months a year in England. On 22 June 2004, it was announced that the Khans had divorced because it was "difficult for Jemima to adapt to life in Pakistan". The marriage ended amicably. Imran has regular access to his children and his relationship with his ex-wife is friendly. Khan now resides in Bani Gala, Islamabad, where he built a farmhouse with the money he gained from selling his London flat. He grows fruit trees, wheat, and keeps cows, while also maintaining a cricket ground for his two sons, who visit during their holidays.

Cricket career

country	Pakistan
living	true
living	true
dayofbirth	25
monthofbirth	11
yearofbirth	1952
placeofbirth	Lahore, West Punjab
countryofbirth	Dominion of Pakistan
batting	Right-handed
bowling	Right-arm fast
role	All-rounder
international	true
testdebutdate	3 June
testdebutyear	1971
testdebutagainst	England
testcap	65
lasttestdate	2 January
lasttestyear	1992
lasttestagainst	Sri Lanka
odidebutdate	31 August
odidebutyear	1974
odidebutagainst	England
odicap	12
lastodidate	25 March
lastodiyear	1992
lastodiagainst	England
club1	Sussex
year1	1977–1988
club2	New South Wales
year2	1984/85
club3	PIA
year3	1975–1981
club4	Worcestershire
year4	1971–1976
club5	Oxford University
year5	1973–1975
club6	Lahore
year6	1969–1971
columns	4
column1	Test
matches1	88
runs1	3,807
bat avg1	37.69
100s/50s1	6/18
top score1	136
deliveries1	19,458
wickets1	362
bowl avg1	22.81
fivefor1	23
tenfor1	6
best bowling1	8/58
catches/stumpings1	28/–
column2	ODI
matches2	175
runs2	3,709
bat avg2	33.41
100s/50s2	1/19
top score2	102*
deliveries2	7,461
wickets2	182
bowl avg2	26.61
fivefor2	1
tenfor2	n/a
best bowling2	6/14
catches/stumpings2	36/–
column3	FC
matches3	382
runs3	17,771
bat avg3	36.79
100s/50s3	30/93
top score3	170
deliveries3	65,224
wickets3	1,287
bowl avg3	22.32
fivefor3	70
tenfor3	13
best bowling3	8/34
catches/stumpings3	117/–
column4	LA
matches4	425
runs4	10,100
bat avg4	33.22
100s/50s4	5/66
top score4	114*
deliveries4	19,122
wickets4	507
bowl avg4	22.31
fivefor4	6
tenfor4	n/a
best bowling4	6/14
catches/stumpings4	84/–
date	24 December
year	2011
source	http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/40560.html ESPNCricinfo }}

name	Pride of Performance Award Recipient
country	Islamic Republic of Pakistan
date	1983
presenter	Islamic Republic of Pakistan }}

name	Hilal-i-Imtiaz Award Recipient
country	Islamic Republic of Pakistan
date	1992
presenter	Islamic Republic of Pakistan }}

Khan made a lacklustre first-class cricket debut at the age of sixteen in Lahore. By the start of the 1970s, he was playing for his home teams of Lahore A (1969–70), Lahore B (1969–70), Lahore Greens (1970–71) and, eventually, Lahore (1970–71). Khan was part of Oxford University's Blues Cricket team during the 1973–75 seasons. At Worcestershire, where he played county cricket from 1971 to 1976, he was regarded as only an average medium pace bowler. During this decade, other teams represented by Khan include Dawood Industries (1975–76) and Pakistan International Airlines (1975–76 to 1980–81). From 1983 to 1988, he played for Sussex.

In 1971, Khan made his Test cricket debut against England at Birmingham. Three years later, he debuted in the One Day International (ODI) match, once again playing against England at Nottingham for the Prudential Trophy. After graduating from Oxford and finishing his tenure at Worcestershire, he returned to Pakistan in 1976 and secured a permanent place on his native national team starting from the 1976–77 season, during which they faced New Zealand and Australia. Following the Australian series, he toured the West Indies, where he met Tony Greig, who signed him up for Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket. His credentials as one of the fastest bowlers of the world started to establish when he finished third at 139.7 km/h in a fast bowling contest at Perth in 1978, behind Jeff Thomson and Michael Holding, but ahead of Dennis Lillee, Garth Le Roux and Andy Roberts.

As a fast bowler, Khan reached the peak of his powers in 1982. In 9 Tests, he got 62 wickets at 13.29 each, the lowest average of any bowler in Test history with at least 50 wickets in a calendar year. In January 1983, playing against India, he attained a Test bowling rating of 922 points. Although calculated retrospectively (ICC player ratings did not exist at the time), Khan's form and performance during this period ranks third in the ICC's All-Time Test Bowling Rankings.

Khan achieved the all-rounder's triple (securing 3000 runs and 300 wickets) in 75 Tests, the second fastest record behind Ian Botham's 72. He is also established as having the second highest all-time batting average of 61.86 for a Test batsman playing at position 6 of the batting order. He played his last Test match for Pakistan in January 1992, against Sri Lanka at Faisalabad. Khan retired permanently from cricket six months after his last ODI, the historic 1992 World Cup final against England at Melbourne, Australia. He ended his career with 88 Test matches, 126 innings and scored 3807 runs at an average of 37.69, including six centuries and 18 fifties. His highest score was 136 runs. As a bowler, he took 362 wickets in Test cricket, which made him the first Pakistani and world's fourth bowler to do so. In ODIs, he played 175 matches and scored 3709 runs at an average of 33.41. His highest score remains 102 not out. His best ODI bowling is documented at 6 wickets for 14 runs.

Captaincy

At the height of his career, in 1982, the thirty-year-old Khan took over the captaincy of the Pakistan cricket team from Javed Miandad. Recalling his initial discomfort with this new role, he later said, "When I became the cricket captain, I couldn’t speak to the team directly I was so shy. I had to tell the manager, I said listen can you talk to them, this is what I want to convey to the team. I mean early team meetings I use to be so shy and embarrassed I couldn’t talk to the team." As a captain, Khan played 48 Test matches, out of which 14 were won by Pakistan, 8 lost and the rest of 26 were drawn. He also played 139 ODIs, winning 77, losing 57 and ending one in a tie.

In the team's second match under his leadership, Khan led them to their first Test win on English soil for 28 years at Lord's. Khan's first year as captain was the peak of his legacy as a fast bowler as well as an all-rounder. He recorded the best Test bowling of his career while taking 8 wickets for 58 runs against Sri Lanka at Lahore in 1981–82. He also topped both the bowling and batting averages against England in three Test series in 1982, taking 21 wickets and averaging 56 with the bat. Later the same year, he put up a highly acknowledged performance in a home series against the formidable Indian team by taking 40 wickets in six Tests at an average of 13.95. By the end of this series in 1982–83, Khan had taken 88 wickets in 13 Test matches over a period of one year as captain.

This same Test series against India, however, also resulted in a stress fracture in his shin that kept him out of cricket for more than two years. An experimental treatment funded by the Pakistani government helped him recover by the end of 1984 and he made a successful comeback to international cricket in the latter part of the 1984–85 season.

In 1987, Khan led Pakistan to its first ever Test series win in India, which was followed by Pakistan's first series victory in England the same year. During the 1980s, his team also recorded three creditable draws against the West Indies. India and Pakistan co-hosted the 1987 World Cup, but neither ventured beyond the semi-finals. Khan retired from international cricket at the end of the World Cup. In 1988, he was asked to return to the captaincy by the President Of Pakistan, General Zia-Ul-Haq, and on 18 January, he announced his decision to rejoin the team. Soon after returning to the captaincy, Khan led Pakistan to another winning tour in the West Indies, which he has recounted as "the last time I really bowled well". He was declared Man of the Series against West Indies in 1988 when he took 23 wickets in 3 tests.

Khan's career-high as a captain and cricketer came when he led Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup. Playing with a brittle batting line-up, Khan promoted himself as a batsman to play in the top order along with Javed Miandad, but his contribution as a bowler was minimal. At the age of 39, Khan scored the highest runs of all the Pakistani batsmen and took the winning last wicket himself.

Post-retirement

In 1994, Khan had admitted that, during Test matches, he "occasionally scratched the side of the ball and lifted the seam." He had also added, "Only once did I use an object. When Sussex were playing Hampshire in 1981 the ball was not deviating at all. I got the 12th man to bring out a bottle top and it started to move around a lot." In 1996, Khan successfully defended himself in a libel action brought forth by former English captain and all-rounder Ian Botham and batsman Allan Lamb over comments they alleged were made by Khan in two articles about the above-mentioned ball-tampering and another article published in an Indian magazine, ''India Today''. They claimed that, in the latter publication, Khan had called the two cricketers "racist, ill-educated and lacking in class." Khan protested that he had been misquoted, saying that he was defending himself after having admitted that he tampered with a ball in a county match 18 years ago. Khan won the libel case, which the judge labelled a "complete exercise in futility", with a 10–2 majority decision by the jury.

Since retiring, Khan has written opinion pieces on cricket for various British and Asian newspapers, especially regarding the Pakistani national team. His contributions have been published in India's ''Outlook'' magazine, the ''Guardian'', the ''Independent'', and the ''Telegraph''. Khan also sometimes appears as a cricket commentator on Asian and British sports networks, including BBC Urdu and the Star TV network. In 2004, when the Indian cricket team toured Pakistan after 14 years, he was a commentator on TEN Sports' special live show, Straight Drive, while he was also a columnist for sify.com for the 2005 India-Pakistan Test series. He has provided analysis for every cricket World Cup since 1992, which includes providing match summaries for BBC during the 1999 World Cup.

In November 2009 Khan underwent emergency surgery at Lahore's Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital to remove an obstruction in his small intestine.

Social work

For more than four years after retiring from cricket in 1992, Khan focused his efforts solely on social work. By 1991, he had founded the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, a charity organisation bearing the name of his mother, Mrs. Shaukat Khanum. As the Trust's maiden endeavour, Khan established Pakistan's first and only cancer hospital, constructed using donations and funds exceeding $25 million, raised by Khan from all over the world. Inspired by the memory of his mother, who died of cancer, the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, a charitable cancer hospital with 75 percent free care, opened in Lahore on 29 December 1994. Khan currently serves as the chairman of the hospital and continues to raise funds through charity and public donations.

During the 1990s, Khan also served as UNICEF's Special Representative for Sports and promoted health and immunisation programmes in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

On 27 April 2008, Khan's brainchild, a technical college in the Mianwali District called Namal College, was inaugurated. Namal College was built by the Mianwali Development Trust (MDT), as chaired by Khan, and was made an associate college of the University of Bradford (of which Khan is Chancellor) in December 2005. Currently, Khan is building another cancer hospital in Karachi, using his successful Lahore institution as a model. While in London, he also works with the Lord’s Taverners, a cricket charity.

Political work

In 1996, Khan founded a political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which emphasized on anti-corruption policies. The newly formed party was unable to win a seat during the 1997 Pakistani general election. Khan supported General Pervez Musharraf's military coup in 1999, believing Musharraf would "end corruption, clear out the political mafias". According to Khan, he was Musharraf's choice of prime minister in 2002 but turned down the offer. The 2002 Pakistani general election were held in October across 272 constituencies. Khan anticipated doing well in the elections and was prepared to form a coalition if his party did not get a majority of the vote. He was elected from the NA-71 constituency of Mianwali and being the only party member to have secured a seat, PTI won only 0.8% of the popular vote. Khan, who was sworn in as an MP on 16 November, remained part of the Standing Committees on Kashmir and Public Accounts, and expressed legislative interest in Foreign Affairs, Education and Justice.

On 6 May 2005, Khan became one of the first Muslim figures to criticise a 300-word ''Newsweek'' story about the alleged desecration of the Qur'an in a U.S. military prison at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Khan held a press conference to denounce the article and demanded that Gen. Pervez Musharraf secure an apology from the American president George W. Bush for the incident.. In June 2007, the federal Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr. Sher Afghan Khan Niazi and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party filed separate ineligibility references against Khan, asking for his disqualification as member of the National Assembly on grounds of immorality. Both references, filed on the basis of articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan, were rejected on 5 September.

On 2 October 2007, as part of the All Parties Democratic Movement, Khan joined 85 other MPs to resign from Parliament in protest of the Presidential election scheduled for 6 October, which General Musharraf was contesting without resigning as army chief. On 3 November 2007, Khan was put under house arrest at his father's home hours after President Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan. Khan had demanded the death penalty for Musharraf after the imposition of emergency rule, which he equated to "committing treason". The next day, on 4 November, Khan escaped and went into peripatetic hiding. He eventually came out of hiding on 14 November to join a student protest at the University of the Punjab. At the rally, Khan was captured by students from the Jamaat-i-Islami political party, who claimed that Khan was an uninvited nuisance at the rally, and they handed him over to the police, who charged him under the Anti-terrorism act for allegedly inciting people to pick up arms, calling for civil disobedience, and for spreading hatred..

Ideology

Khan's proclaimed political platform and declarations include: Islamic values, to which he rededicated himself in the 1990s; liberal economics, with the promise of deregulating the economy and creating a welfare state; decreased bureaucracy and the implementation of anti-corruption laws, to create and ensure a clean government; the establishment of an independent judiciary; overhaul of the country's police system; and an anti-militant vision for a democratic Pakistan.

Khan told Britain's ''Daily Telegraph'', "I want Pakistan to be a welfare state and a genuine democracy with a rule of law and an independent judiciary." Other ideas he has presented include a requirement of all students to spend a year after graduation teaching in the countryside and cutting down the over-staffed bureaucracy in order to send them to teach too. "We need decentralisation, empowering people at the grass roots," he has said.

Criticism

Imran khan has a love-child named Tyrian from one Ana-Luisa White (Sita White). The concealed fact stood confirmed by a judgement of paternity rendered by a Superior Court of the State of California for the county of Los Angeles in favour of the said Sita White wherein it was held that the respondent was the father of the minor child named Tyrian Jade born on June 15, 1992. The respondent had not challenged that judgement and finally in the year 2004 accepted Tyrian Jade as his daughter and he and his wife Jamima Khan had become her guardian.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Khan became known as a socialite due to his "non-stop partying" at London nightclubs such as Annabel's and Tramp, though he claims to have hated English pubs and never drunk alcohol. He also gained notoriety in London gossip columns for romancing young debutantes such as Susannah Constantine, Lady Liza Campbell and the artist Emma Sergeant.

Khan is often dismissed as a political lightweight and a celebrity outsider in Pakistan, where national newspapers also refer to him as a "spoiler politician". The Muttahida Qaumi Movement, has asserted that Khan is "a sick person who has been a total failure in politics and is alive just because of the media coverage". Political observers say the crowds he draws are attracted by his cricketing celebrity, and the public has been reported to view him as a figure of entertainment rather than a serious political authority.

Declan Walsh in ''The Guardian'' newspaper in England in 2005 described Khan as a "miserable politician," observing that, "Khan's ideas and affiliations since entering politics in 1996 have swerved and skidded like a rickshaw in a rainshower... He preaches democracy one day but gives a vote to reactionary mullahs the next." The charge constantly raised against Khan is that of hypocrisy and opportunism, including what has been called his life's "playboy to puritan U-turn." Political commentator Najam Sethi, stated that, "A lot of the Imran Khan story is about backtracking on a lot of things he said earlier, which is why this doesn’t inspire people."

In 2008, as part of the Hall of Shame awards for 2007, Pakistan's ''Newsline'' magazine gave Khan the "Paris Hilton award for being the most undeserving media darling." The 'citation' for Khan read: "He is the leader of a party that is the proud holder of one National Assembly seat (and) gets media coverage inversely proportional to his political influence." ''The Guardian'' has described the coverage garnered by Khan's post-retirement activities in England, where he made his name as a cricket star and a night-club regular, as "terrible tosh, with danger attached. It turns a great (and greatly miserable) Third World nation into a gossip-column annexe. We may all choke on such frivolity." After the 2008 general elections, political columnist Azam Khalil addressed Khan as one of the "utter failures in Pakistani politics".

Awards and honours

In 1992, Khan was given Pakistan's civil award, the Hilal-i-Imtiaz

In 1983, he had received the President’s Pride of Performance Award

In 2011 he was given Jinnah award.

Khan is featured in the University of Oxford's Hall of Fame and has been an honorary fellow of Oxford's Keble College.

On 7 December 2005, Khan was appointed the fifth Chancellor of the University of Bradford, where he is also a patron of the Born in Bradford research project.

In 1976 as well as 1980, Khan was awarded The Cricket Society Wetherall Award for being the leading all-rounder in English first-class cricket.

In 1983, he was also named Wisden Cricketer of the Year

In 1985, Sussex Cricket Society Player of the Year

In 1990, Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year On 5 July 2008, he was one of several veteran Asian cricketers presented special silver jubilee awards at the inaugural Asian cricket Council (ACC) award ceremony in Karachi. On 8 July 2004, Khan was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2004 Asian Jewel Awards in London, for "acting as a figurehead for many international charities and working passionately and extensively in fund-raising activities. On 13 December 2007, Khan received the Humanitarian Award at the Asian Sports Awards in Kuala Lumpur for his efforts in setting up the first cancer hospital in Pakistan. In 2009, at International Cricket Council's centennial year celebration, Khan was one of fifty-five cricketers inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.

Writings by Khan

Khan has published six works of non-fiction, including an autobiography co-written with Patrick Murphy. He periodically writes editorials on cricket and Pakistani politics in several leading Pakistani and British newspapers. It was revealed in 2008 that Khan's second book, ''Indus Journey: A Personal View of Pakistan'', had required heavy editing from the publisher. The publisher Jeremy Lewis revealed in a memoir that when he asked Khan to show his writing for publication, "he handed me a leatherbound notebook or diary containing a few jottings and autobiographical snippets. It took me, at most, five minutes to read them; and that, it soon became apparent, was all we had to go on."

Books Articles

Guardian comments, political and cricket commentary by Khan

Telegraph columns, sports articles penned by Khan from 2000 to present

We must address the root causes of this terror, Khan's editorial in the ''Independent'' following the 11 September attacks

Benazir Bhutto has only herself to blame, Khan's 2007 editorial on Bhutto's return to Pakistan

In popular culture

After the permission from him, he Kaptaan is a biographical film about him.

References

Further reading

External links

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Khan's political party

Chancellor: Imran Khan at the University of Bradford

Column archive at ''The Guardian''

;Articles

The NS Interview: Imran Khan Mehdi Hasan, ''New Statesman'', 20 August 2010

Imran Khan's revolution, Murtaza Razvi, ''Dawn'', 27 April 2011

Imran Khan: Pakistan's next leader?, ''Frost Over the World'', ''Aljazeera English'', 10 December 2011

Thousands rally for Pakistan's Imran Khan, ''Aljazeera English'', 25 December 2011

Hundreds of thousands gather at PTI rally in Karachi, ''Dawn'', 25 December 2011

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Name	Sir Shah Mehmood Qureshiشاه محمود قریشی
Office	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Primeminister	Yousaf Raza Gillani
Term start	31 March 2008
Term end	9 February 2011
Predecessor	Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri
Successor	Hina Rabbani Khar
Birth date	June 22, 1956
Birth place	Murree, Pakistan
Party	Islami Jamhoori Ithad (1988-1990) Pakistan Peoples Party (1990-2011) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (2011-present)(Vice Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf)
Alma mater	Aitchison College, Forman Christian College UniversityUniversity of Cambridge
Profession	Agriculturist/Politician
Religion	Islam }}

Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Hussain Qureshi (; born June 22, 1956) is well-known Politician in Pakistan. He was the Foreign Minister of Pakistan in the coalition government of PPP, Muttahida Quami Movement[MQM], ANP and JUI-F formed after the 2008 general elections. He was a senior leader of Pakistan Peoples Party, where he was the president of PPP Punjab. However in February 2011 Qureshi fell out with the senior PPP leadaership and by November 2011 joined Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi is also the current Sajjada Nashin and custodian of the Mausoleum of Shah Rukn-e-Alam and of the Shrine (Darbar) of Hazrat Baha-ud-din Zakariya. An agriculturalist by trade, Qureshi is also the president of the Farmers Association of Pakistan.

Early life

Family

Qureshi hails from a prominent religious and political family in South Punjab. He is the eldest son of Makhdoom Sajjad Hussain Qureshi. Sajjad Qureshi was a Sajjada Nashin for Mausoleum of Shah Rukn-e-Alam and the Darbar of Hazrat Baha-ud-din Zakariya. The elder Qureshi was also a prominent politician of the Pakistan People's Party under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the 1970s. Following the removal and hanging of Bhutto, Sajjad Hussain supported the presidency of General Zia-ul-Haq and served as the Governor of Punjab from December 1985 to December 1988 under Zia.

Education

Qureshi received his early education from Aitchison College, Lahore. He received a Bachelor's degree in History from Forman Christian College. Qureshi also received a law degree from Cambridge University

Political career

Qureshi was first elected to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from Multan in 1985, which were held on a non-party basis. He joined the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) under the leadership of Muhammad Khan Junejo in 1986.

He joined the faction of PML led by Nawaz Sharif, which later became PML (N), when PML split in 1988 after the death of Zia-ul-Haq. He was re-elected to the Punjab Assembly from Multan in 1988. He served as the Minister of Planning and Development in the cabinet of Chief Minister Nawaz Sharif from November 1988 to August 1990.

Qureshi parted ways with Nawaz Sharif in 1990 and joined the PML (J) faction led by Manzoor Wattoo, and was re-elected to the Punjab Assembly from Multan in 1990. He served as the Minister of Finance in the Punjab cabinet under Chief Minister Watoo from 1990 to June 1993.

He subsequently joined the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in 1993 under the leadership of Benazir Bhutto. He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Multan in the general elections of 1993, and served as the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs under Prime Minister Bhutto. Qureshi was defeated in the 1997 general election by Makhdoom Javed Hashmi.

Qureshi served as the District Nazim of Multan from 2000 to 2002. He won subsequent elections to the National Assembly from Multan in 2002 and 2008 as a member of the PPP. Benazir Bhutto made Qureshi the President of PPP in Punjab in 2006.

Following the general election of 2008, Qureshi was a potential candidate for the Prime Minister of Pakistan in the coalition government headed by the PPP. However, given his political history prior to joining the PPP, Qureshi was instead given the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani. He lost the portfolio of Foreign Minister in February 2011, following the Raymond Davis affair. Qureshi opposed the PPP's pact with PML-Q, since he believed PML-Q to be indirectly involved in the killing of Benazir Bhutto.

Qureshi resigned from the PPP, as well as his National Assembly membership, in November 2011. He has been in contact with both Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to join one of these parties. In a TV talk show Imran Khan confirmed that Shah Mehmood Qureshi would join the PTI rally on 27 November 2011 at Ghotki.

Minister of Foreign Affairs (2008 - 2011)

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 neighboring India were amongst his top priorities. Qureshi went on his first visit as foreign minister to China in October 2008 with Ahmad Mukhtar and President Asif Ali Zardari. On his arrival back, he was given praise for his work. Qureshi has visited many countries as Foreign Minister and has been very busy explaining Pakistan's stance on the war on terror to the foreign world.

In 2009, Shah Mehmood 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 Sen. John Kerry

In February 2011, the Government of Pakistan reduced the number of cabinet seats. During this transition, Shah Mehmood 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."

Joining Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf

Following the Raymond Allen Davis incident where US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent was released without charge for murdering two men in Lahore, Shah Mehmood Qureshi was appointed to another ministry due to which he subsequently resigned as Federal Minister of Pakistan. On 27 November 2011 Qureshi announced his joining of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in a rally in Ghotki, Sindh. He was appointed Vice Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and President (Southern Punjab) of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. He stated that the cause behind joining PTI was to bring about a revolution in Pakistan.

See also

Makhdoom

References

External links

Profile of Shah Mahmood Qureshi at Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Two-Minute Bio: Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Time Magazine

Profile of Shah Mehmood Qureshi

Category:1956 births Category:Forman Christian College alumni Category:Living people Category:Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf politicians Category:Pakistani politicians Category:People from Multan Category:Seraiki people

de:Shah Mehmood Qureshi fr:Shah Mehmood Qureshi pnb:شاه محمود قریشی ru:Куреши, Шах Мехмуд ur:شاہ محمود قریشی