Muhammad Rafiq Tarar

Muhammad Rafiq Tarar
محمد رفیق تارڑ
Rafiq Tarar in Nawaz Sharif's Second regime
9th President of Pakistan
In office
1 January 1998 – 20 June 2001
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
Preceded by Farooq Leghari
Succeeded by Pervez Musharraf
Senior Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan
In office
17 January 1991 – 1 November 1994
Nominated by Benazir Bhutto
Appointed by Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court
In office
6 March 1989 – 31 October 1991
Appointed by Tikka Khan
Preceded by Abdul Shakurul Salam
Succeeded by Mian Mahboob Ahmad
Personal details
Born 2 November 1929
Ghakhar Mandi,[1] Punjab, British India
(now in Punjab, Pakistan)
Citizenship  Pakistan
Nationality Pakistani
Political party Pakistan Muslim League(N) (1988–present)
Alma mater Punjab University
(BA, LLB)
Profession Jurist
Cabinet Sharif Cabinet
Religion Islam

Muhammad Rafiq Tarar (i//;English IPA:rəfɪ̈kʰ ʔɑr(ə)ɹ (Urdu: محمد رفیق تارڑ‎; b. 2 November 1929), is a retired senior justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the ninth President of Pakistan, serving from 1998 until voluntarily resigning in the favour of Pervez Musharraf in 2000.[2]

By profession, a jurist, legal and Islamic scholar, Tarar enjoyed a distinguish career in court system of the country and is a veteran activist of historical Pakistan Movement. By virtue of the extraconstitutional order in 2001, Tarar was controversially replaced by Pervez Musharraf after tendering resignation.[3]

Biography

Early life and education

Muhammad Rafiq Tarar was born in Pirkot village in Ghakhar Mandi,[1] a rural locality in Gujranwala District of Punjab, of the British India on 2 November 1929. His family was a practicing Deobandi-sect of Islam.[4] After graduating from Islamia College, Tarar enrolled at the Punjab University where he received BA in Islamic Studies in 1949. During his college years, Tarar was an activist of Muslim League and an admirer Jinnah.[5]

During the violent partition of India, Tarar performed voluntary duty as a relief worker in camps set up by Muslim Students Federation for Indian emigrants, migrating from the riot-torn India to Pakistan.[2] Tarar enrolled at the Law College of Punjab University and graduated with the LLB in 1951.[2]

After graduation, he enrolled as a Pleader in Lahore High Court.[2]

Judicial career

In 1951, he enrolled as a Pleader in Lahore High Court.[2] He also enrolled as an Advocate in the Lahore High Court in October 1955.[2] In 1960s, he established his own law firm in Gujranwala, and passed the Bar exams to be elevated as judge in District Courts and session judge.[2]

In 1971, he became Chairman of the Punjab Labor Court and appointed as a judge at Lahore High Court in October 1974 and later became the Chief Justice of the same court in 1989.[2] Earlier, during his days as Judge of the Lahore High Court, he also served as a member of the Election Commission of Pakistan where he represented Punjab.[2] In 1991, Tara was appointed as Judge of the Supreme Court in January 1991, from which he retired in November 1994 on attaining the age of 65 years.[2]

Following his retirement from the Judiciary in March 1997, Tarar moved from a legal to a political career, joining the PML(N).[2] After securing the party ticket, he was elected as Senator in 1997.[2]

President of Pakistan

In 1997, he was selected and nominated for candidacy for the President of Pakistan, after Farooq Leghari's resignation.[6] On 31 December 1997, Tarar was elected as President in an indirect elections with a huge margin of votes.[7] He comfortably secured 374 out of 457 votes of the Electoral College against Aftab Mirani of PPP (a PML(N)'s rival) who secured 31 votes, and Muhammad Shirani of JUI(S) who ended with up 22 votes.[2] Never before had a President received such overwhelming support from the elected representatives of the people of Pakistan.[8][2]

Upon becoming President, Tarar seemed to be an unassuming and ceremonial figurehead who kept a low profile, and avoided news media.[2] He readily signed the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution of Pakistan that limited the powers of the presidency.[9]

The Presidency of Pakistan's powers had been slowly removed over the years, culminating in the 1997 Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan which removed virtually all remaining reserve powers, making the office almost entirely symbolic in nature as per the true spirit of the Pakistani constitution.[10]

Tarar did not endorsed and refused to validate the military coup d'état staged by the military to bring Chairman joint chiefs General Pervez Musharraf, on constitutional ground.[2] From 1999–2001, he had severe confrontation with the military that decided not retain Tarar as the President till his full term of five years.[2] On 21 June 2001, General Musharraf who acted as Chief Executive in capacity, enforced the extraconstitutional order which prompted Tarar to resign from the controversially presidency.

Many in Pakistan believes that Tarar did not resign but rather was forced to do it by General Musharraf as he read the paragraph: "Mr. Muhammad Rafiq Tarar has ceased to hold the office of the President with immediate effect."[3]

Retirement

Tarar retired from the national politics and settled in Lahore.[3]

In Pakistan, Tarar is a highly respected figure and noted for his honesty, loyalty, devotion to justice and a firm, religious faith in Islam.[2] He retained a good friendship with Nawaz Sharif and is a close family friend of Sharif.[2] His Daughter in law, Saira Tarar, is a key member of Third Sharif ministry, serving in Ministry of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination.[11]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Rafiq Tarar's BirthPlace".
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 Administrator/Staff worker (1 June 2003). "Muhammad Rafiq Tarar" (HTML). http://storyofpakistan.com''. Story of Pakistan Press. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Reddy, B. Muralidhar (21 June 2001). "Rafiq Tarar forced to quit?". The Hindu. The Hindu. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Chitkara (2001, p. 118-119)
  5. ↑ Zakaria (2001, p. 232-233)
  6. ↑ staff worker (1 January 1998). "Tarar sworn in as Pakistani president". BBC Pakistan Bureau. BBC Pakistan Bureau. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  7. ↑ . Presidency of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/index.php?lang=en&opc=2&sel=4&pId=9. Retrieved 9 May 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ Preston (2003, p. 229-235)
  9. ↑ Jones (2003, p. 31-35)
  10. ↑ 12th Parliament of Pakistan (1973). Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (13th Amendment ed.). 12th Parliament of Pakistan.
  11. ↑ "State Minister List--Saira Afzal tarar". Prime Minister Office Website. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
Bibliography

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by
Abdul Shakurul Salam		 Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court
1989–1991 		Succeeded by
Mian Mahboob Ahmad
Political offices
Preceded by
Wasim Sajjad
Acting		 President of Pakistan
1998–2001 		Succeeded by
Pervez Musharraf