Hina Rabbani Khar <>حنا ربانی کھر
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 July 2011 Acting: 13 February 2011 – 19 July 2011
Prime Minister	Yousaf Raza Gillani
Preceded by	Shah Mehmood Qureshi
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
In office 11 February 2011 – 19 July 2011
Prime Minister	Yousaf Raza Gillani
Preceded by	Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan
Succeeded by	Salman Bashir
Personal details
Born	(1977-11-19) 19 November 1977 (age 34) Multan, Pakistan
Political party	Pakistan Peoples Party
Spouse(s)	Feroze Gulzar
Alma mater	Lahore University of Management Sciences University of Massachusetts Amherst
Religion	Islam
Website	Official website

Hina Rabbani Khar (Urdu: حنا ربانی کھر; born 19 November 1977^[1]) is a Pakistani politician and the Foreign Minister of Pakistan. Appointed in July 2011, she is the first female and the youngest person to ever head Pakistani's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She was elected to the National Assembly in both 2002 and 2008 and was Minister of State for Finance and Economic Affairs between 2008 and 2011.

Early life and education[link]

Hina Rabbani Khar was born on 19 November 1977 in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan. She is the daughter of politician and landowner Ghulam Noor Rabbani Khar and the niece of Ghulam Mustafa Khar, a former governor of Punjab.^[2] The Khar family has roots in the village of Khar Gharbi located in Kot Adu, a tehsil in Muzaffargarh District in Punjab; and has many land holdings: an estate that includes fisheries, mango orchards, and sugarcane fields. She graduated with a B.Sc. in Economics from Lahore University of Management Sciences in 1999 and received her M Sc (Hon) in Business Management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2001.^[1][3]

Personal life[link]

She is married to Firoze Gulzar, with whom she has two daughters, Annaya and Dina.^[4] She is the co-owner of the Polo Lounge restaurant on the Lahore Polo Grounds.^[5]

Political career[link]

In the 2002 general elections, as a candidate with the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q)—the party of President Pervez Musharraf—Khar was elected to the National Assembly, representing the NA-177 Muzaffargarh-II constituency in Punjab, a position her father had held previously, but a new law requiring all candidates to hold a university degree meant he could not run that year.^[6][7][8] The Guardian wrote, "In deference to local sensibilities about the place of women, her landlord father Noor addressed rallies and glad-handed voters; Hina stayed largely at home, with not even her photo appearing on the posters."^[9] After the PML-Q denied her a ticket for re-election in 2008, she joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and was elected for a second time.^[6][10] The PPP won the majority of the votes and formed an alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League (N). They nominated and elected Yousaf Raza Gillani as Prime Minister.

Between 2004 and 2007 Khar was Minister of State for Economic Affairs (Pakistan)|Minister of State for Economic Affairs.^[11] She served as Minister of State for Finance and Economic Affairs in the cabinet of Gillani between 2008 and 2011.^[4] On 13 June 2009, she became the first woman to present the Pakistani budget in the National Assembly.^[12]

Foreign Minister[link]

Hina Rabbani Khar - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2012

Khar was appointed Minister of State for Foreign Affairs—the deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—on 11 February 2011, as part of Gillani's cabinet reshuffle.^[13] After Shah Mehmood Qureshi's resignation as Foreign Minister, she became acting Minister of Foreign Affairs on 13 February 2011.^[14] She was approved as Foreign Minister on 18 July^[15] and was sworn-in on 19 July, becoming the youngest and first female Minister of Foreign Affairs.^[16] President Asif Ali Zardari, who succeeded Musharraf in 2008, said the appointment was "a demonstration of the government's commitment to bring women into the mainstream of national life".^[17]

Shortly after her appointment, she visited India and held peace talks with her Indian counterpart, Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna. Relations between the two countries had been suspended following the 2008 Mumbai attacks, resuming in February 2011.^[18] The Indian media reported extensively on her fashion and appearance—the Birkin bag, the sunglasses, the Jimmy Choo stilettos and the pearl necklaces, for example.^[19] She held talks with leaders of Kashmiri independance movement before meeting Indian government representatives, a decision which was criticised by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition party of India,^[20][21] who said it was a breach of protocol and demanded an inquiry into the matter.^[22] In August 2011 she visited China and held talks with Yang Jiechi, the Chinese foreign minister.^[23] Hindustan Times reported that, in contrast to her reception in India, she was largely ignored by Chinese media.^[24]

As a result of the 2011 NATO attack in Pakistan which killed 24 Pakistani troops, Foreign Minister Khar stated that Pakistan's Cabinet and defense committee had approved a measure- similar to a parliamentary resolution put forward after bin Laden's May 2011 death- that formally bars NATO and ISAF forces from using Pakistani supply routes.^[25]

Electricity Bill Scandal[link]

Hina Rabbani Khar came under severe criticism in Pakistan when several news sources alleged that there were massive irregularities in Electricity bill payments by Galaxy Textile Mills, a company owned by Khar's husband and father-in-law. The allegations suggest that there is an outstanding bill of Rs. 70 million against the company, which they have managed to settle in terms of installments of Rs. 3000 rupees per month, presumably through political pressure. This is seen as a major political scandal in a country marred by electricity shortage, with citizens having to face up to 12 hours of outages every day.^[26][27]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hina Rabbani

• Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Minister of Pakistan
• Pakistan News

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari بلاول بھٹو زرداری
Bilawal at the Women's World Award 2009 Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria
Co-Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 December 2007 Serving with Asif Ali Zardari
Preceded by	Benazir Bhutto
Personal details
Born	(1988-09-21) 21 September 1988 (age 23) Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Nationality	Pakistani
Political party	Pakistan Peoples Party
Relations	Benazir Bhutto (mother) Asif Ali Zardari (father) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (grandfather) Murtaza Bhutto (uncle)
Residence	Karachi, Pakistan Oxford, United Kingdom Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford
Religion	Islam[1]
Website	PPP website

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (Urdu: بلاول بھٹو زرداری, born 21 September 1988) is the Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party. He is the only son of President Asif Ali Zardari and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Early life and education[link]

Benazir Bhutto carrying Bilawal at Andrews Air Force Base upon her arrival for a state visit to the United States in 1989.

Bilawal was born on 21 September 1988. He is the son of Asif Ali Zardari and Benazir Bhutto. He was three months old when his mother first became Prime Minister.^[2]

Bilawal was admitted in the prestigious Aitichison College Lahore, but due to some security problems he could not continue. Instead he went to Karachi Grammar School during his mother’s second term in office as Prime Minister. He also attended Froebel's International School in Islamabad.^[3] He left Pakistan with his mother in April 1999. His father was in jail in Pakistan from 1996 to 2004 for corruption.^[4]

He spent his childhood in Dubai and London during his family's self-exile.^[2] He later attended Rashid School For Boys in Dubai, where he was Vice President of the student council.^[5] He has a black belt in Taekwondo but regrets he could not play cricket because of his family circumstances.^[2]

Oxford University[link]

Bilawal matriculated at Christ Church, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, in mid-2007, to study modern history, studying British history before transitioning to general history.^[6] Benazir also enrolled him in the Oxford Union debating society.^[7] In December 2007, he returned to Pakistan after Benazir was assassinated. He also returned to Pakistan in September 2008 to witness his father sworn in as President of Pakistan.^[8] Bilawal completed his studies in June 2010.^[9][10][11]

Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party[link]

Appointment[link]

After the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Benazir's political will declared Asif Ali Zardari as Benazir's successor for party leadership.^[12][13][14] However, Bilawal became Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party because Zardari favoured Bilawal to represent Bhutto's legacy in part to avoid division within the party due to Zardari's own unpopularity.^[12][13][15] Zardari planned to act as co-chairman of the PPP for at least three years until Bilawal completed his studies overseas.^[12][14][15]

Bilawal was appointed chairman of the PPP on 30 December 2007.^[16] Asif Zardari also announced Bilawal's name change from "Bilawal Zardari" to "Bilawal Bhutto Zardari".^[17] At that time he was still studying at Oxford.^[18] It had been estimated that Bilawal's security at Oxford may cost at least one million pounds each year.^[19]

In 2011 Bilawal returned to Pakistan^[20] and became more prominent in politics, notably when his father went for medical care to Dubai in December 2011.^[21]

Tumandar of Zardari Baloch tribe[link]

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari with Abdul Qadir Patel

In 2011 it was announced that Bilawal would be the next Tumandar (Chief) of the Zardari tribe of Baloch as his father Asif Ali Zardari passed on the title to Bilawal rather than becoming the Tribal Chief himself after the death of his father Hakim Ali Zardari. A formal ceremony would be held later.^[22]

Personal life[link]

Bilawal has two younger sisters — Bakhtawar and Asifa. His name means "one without equal". His first language is English, but he can also speak Arabic and Urdu.^[6]

See also[link]

• Benazir Bhutto
• Asif Ali Zardari
• Pakistan Peoples Party
• Bhutto family

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

External links[link]

• BBC News Profile: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
• Pakistan has asked Interpol to issue red warrant for Musharraf: Bilawal, The News International, May, 28, 2012]
• Musharraf 'murdered my mother': Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Geo News Pakistan, May 28, 2012]

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