Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq
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| Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq | |
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Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Minorities
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| Assumed office January 11, 2004 |
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Federal Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis
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| In office November 1, 1990 – July 18, 1993 |
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Senior President, Pakistan Muslim League (Q)
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| In office February 17, 1997 – December 1998 |
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| Born | 1953 Nowshera, Pakistan |
| Political party | Pakistan Muslim League (Q) |
| Religion | Islam |
Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq (Urdu: ﻖﺤﻟﺍ ﺫﺎﺠﻋﺍ ﺪﻤﺤﻣ) (born 1953) is a prominent Pakistani politician and former Federal Minister for Religious Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Entering Pakistani politics following the 1988 death of his father, President of Pakistan General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Ijaz held a senior federal ministry within the cabinet of General Zia's civilian successor Nawaz Sharif as well as the Senior Presidency of the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) during its second tenure in the 1990s. He stepped down from the post following differences with Sharif, who was overthrown shortly afterwards by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999.
Ijaz was elected to the Pakistan National Assembly for a record fourth time in the 2002 general election, but he lost in the 2008 general election. As Minister for Religious Affairs, with additional charges of Hajj and Minorities, Ijaz has sparked controversy following comments supporting nuclear engineer Abdul Qadeer Khan as well as his public denunciation of the knighthood of Salman Rushdie. More recently, Ijaz was heavily involved in trying to prevent the Lal Masjid siege (calling for mosque head Abdul Rashid Ghazi to surrender) in vain. Ijaz-ul-Haq currently resides in Rawalpindi. He is the son-in-law of famed former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and martial law administrator General Rahimuddin Khan.
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[edit] Early life
Born in Nowshera, North-West Frontier Province, Ijaz received his master's degreein business administration from the University of Punjab. He completed his degree in Business Administration from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, in Carbondale, Illinois. Thereafter he enjoyed a successful career as a Bahrain-based banker from 1978 until 1988. He entered Pakistani politics after the death of his father, the President of Pakistan, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, in a sabotage-induced airplane crash in August 17, 1988. He allied himself with his late father's endorsed political party, Pakistan Muslim League in 1989 to form the conservative opposition to the country's succeeding ruler, Benazir Bhutto, who was elected Prime Minister of Pakistan shortly after General Zia's death. Initially considered to be spearheading the Benazir-opposed right-wing, Ijaz would ally himself with the more politically experienced Nawaz Sharif, who had served as Chief Minister in the cabinet of General Zia.
[edit] 1990s political career
An opposition member throughout Benazir's rule, Ijaz was elected to the National Assembly in 1990 and due to his popularity and influence amongst the pro-Zia voting bloc became the Federal Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis, following the dismissal of Benazir's government by then-President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and ally Nawaz Sharif's being elected Prime Minister. He held both posts till 1993, when Nawaz Sharif's government was also dismissed by Ghulam Ishaq. Nevertheless, Ijaz was again elected to the National Assembly in the subsequent federal elections held in 1993, in which Benazir was once again elected Prime Minister.
Ijaz returned to power in February 1997, following Benazir's government being dismissed yet again on corruption charges. Nawaz Sharif's again succeeded her as Prime Minister. Ijaz-ul-Haq gradually fell out with Nawaz Sharif, however, during Sharif's second tenure. With rumours of the differences between the two men rife, Ijaz compounded it by stepping down as Senior President of the ruling party. Shortly thereafter, Nawaz Sharif was overthrown in a military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999, and exiled to Saudi Arabia.
Musharraf held federal elections in 2002, and Ijaz was elected to the National Assembly, through his newly formed political party Pakistan Muslim League (Z), the fourth consecutive time, with a record number of votes. His party became part of Pakistan Muslim League (Q) in 2003. In 2004, he was made Federal Minister for Religious Affairs of Pakistan with the additional charge of Ministry of Minority Affairs.
[edit] Tenure as Religious Affairs Minister
[edit] Support for A.Q. Khan
Among the more controversial ministers in recent memory, Ijaz has repeatedly deviated from the government line. His regarding Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the credited to be founder of Pakistan's nuclear program, as a national hero, following the Musharraf government's placing Khan under house arrest on allegations of abetting nuclear proliferation, was met with widespread acclaim despite being against government propagation. At a recent press conference in May 2007, Ijaz stated that Dr. Qadeer was a nd that he had rendered services without parallel concerning Pakistan's nuclear program[1].
Ijaz ul Haq has nurtured himselves as a local politician cum power block, he did inherit links with Islamic parties from his father and serves in a ministry meant for such affairs. Nawaz Sharif stole the late General Zia's voters as Ijaz was new in politics. Like his father his personal repute is clean and conservative and his wife wears the Hijab. Prior to his political career, in his banking career he had a good reputation but was thought of as pragmatic bordering on an opportunist.
