Saleem Khursheed Khokhar is a Christian politician from Sindh in Pakistan.
Khokhar won three consecutive elections to the Sindh Provincial Assembly in 1990, 1993, and 1997 as a representative of the local Christian community; he secured re-election in 2008 from the Pakistan People's Party. [1] A vocal advocate of minority rights, Khokhar has drawn attention to kidnapping and forced conversion of religious minorities in the region. [2] [3] [4]
Khokhar has been subject to multiple assassination attempts; in 2013, armed assailants attacked him in Thatta. [2]
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI is one of the three major Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML–N) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), and it is the largest party in terms of representation in the National Assembly of Pakistan since the 2018 general election. With over 10 million members in Pakistan and abroad, it claims to be the country's largest political party by primary membership as well as one of the largest political parties in the world.
Hinduism is the second largest religious affiliation in Pakistan after Islam. While Hinduism was one of the dominant faiths in the region a few centuries back, today Hindus account for 2.14% of Pakistan's population or 4.4 million people according to the 2017 Pakistan Census, although Pakistan Hindu Council has claimed that there are 8 million Hindus living in Pakistan, making up 4% of the country's population. The Umerkot district has the highest percentage of Hindu residents in the country at 52.2%, while Tharparkar district has the most Hindus in absolute numbers at 714,698.
Akhtar Mengal is a politician from Balochistan who is the chairman of Balochistan National Party (Mengal). He previously served as the Chief Minister of Balochistan between 1997 and 1998 and later he served as a member of the Balochistan Provincial Assembly. Mengal currently serves as a member of National Assembly of Pakistan since August 2018.
Syed Qaim Daim Ali Shah is a Pakistani politician who served as the elected Chief Minister of Sindh for three terms. His last two terms combined, a total of eight years, makes him the longest serving Chief Minister of Sindh. He is Sindh President of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and an elected Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) from PS-220 (Khairpur-1).
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is a Pakistani politician who is serving as the 37th Minister of Foreign Affairs, in office since 27 April 2022. He became the chairman of Pakistan People's Party in 2007, following his mother's assassination. He belongs from the Bhutto family, a prominent political family of Pakistan. He is the son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and former President Asif Ali Zardari. Bilawal became a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan on 13 August 2018.
Syed Muhammad Ali Shah was a Pakistani orthopaedic surgeon and member of the Pakistan Cricket Board governing board. He was the Provincial Sports Minister of Sindh. He was also the Chief de Mission for Pakistani athletes in the Commonwealth Games 2010.
Syed Faisal Ali Subzwari is a Pakistani politician and senior leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan. He was elected as a member of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh on the ticket of MQM-P in 2013 Pakistani general election and has served as the opposition leader in Sindh Assembly.
Pir Mazhar Ul Haq born 14 September 1947 is a Pakistani politician who remained a member of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh from 1988 to 2013. He also remained Senior Minister for Education and Literacy Department Sindh.
Shazia Jannat Marri is a Pakistani politician and Federal Minister for Benazir Income Support Programme. She has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since August 2018 and current Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety. Previously she was a member of the National Assembly from July 2012 to August 2013 and again from August 2013 to May 2018.
Kamran Michael is a Pakistani politician who served as Minister for Statistics, in Abbasi cabinet from August 2017 to May 2018. He previously served as the Minister for Human Rights in the third Sharif ministry from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Michael held the cabinet portfolio of Minister for Ports and Shipping from 2013 to 2016.
Religious discrimination in Pakistan is a serious issue for the human rights situation in modern-day Pakistan. Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Shias, and Ahmadis among other religious minorities often face discrimination and at times are even subjected to violence. In some cases Christian churches and the worshippers themselves have been attacked. Khawaja Nazimuddin, the 2nd Prime Minister of Pakistan, stated: "I do not agree that religion is a private affair of the individual nor do I agree that in an Islamic state every citizen has identical rights, no matter what his caste, creed or faith be".
Syed Ali Haider Zaidi is a Pakistani politician who served as the Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs from 11 September 2018 to 10 April 2022. He is the President of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Sindh chapter. He has been previously also remained a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from August 2018 to January 2023.
The triennial Senate Electionsof Pakistan were held on 3 March 2018 to replace 52 retiring senators - half of the Senate's strength - with the winning candidates serving six-year terms. Overall, Pakistan Muslim League (N) came out as the largest party, followed by the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. The results of these elections were steeped in controversy due to rampant allegations of horse trading and vote-buying, which lead to the Prime Minister and opposition leader Imran Khan calling for reforms. Prior to this election, PML (N) candidates were declared as independents by the Election Commission of Pakistan owing to a Supreme Court judgment.
Hari Ram is a Hindu politician from Sindh, Pakistan. A five-time legilslator to the Provincial Assembly of Sindh, Ram was the first non-Muslim to win a non-reserved constituency in (West) Pakistan; he served in the Senate from 2012 to 2018.
Abdul Haq is a Muslim cleric and Pakistani politician. He is among the leaders of the Bharchundi Shareef Dargah, and a locally influential figure. Haq was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Constituency NA-200 (Ghotki-I) as a candidate of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in 2008 Pakistani general election. He received 59,022 votes and defeated Khalid Ahmed Khan Lund, a candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q).
Michael Javaid was a Christian politician and human rights activist from Sindh in Pakistan.
Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo is a Pakistani politician who has been serving as the Chief Minister of Balochistan province of Pakistan since 29 October 2021. He has been a member of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan since November 2002. He is a member of the Balochistan Awami Party.
Provincial elections were held in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on 25 July 2018 to elect the members of the 11th Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, alongside nationwide general elections and three other provincial elections in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab. The remaining two territories of Pakistan, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, were ineligible to vote due to their disputed status.
William Jan Barkat is a Pakistani politician who was elected member for the 10th Provincial Assembly of Balochistan.