Ejaz Chaudhary

Ejaz Ahmed Chaudhary commonly referred to as Ejaz Chaudhary (born 15 September 1956) is a prominent Pakistani politician, social worker, civil engineer by profession and an ex-deputy mayor of Lahore. Chaudhary was previously a member of Jamaat-e-Islami where he spent 35 years of his political career before leaving the party, by 2007 Chaudhary had joined Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf after receiving a personal invitation from Khan himself to join the party. He is currently serving as Imran Khan's chief political advisor, and served as the Punjab President of the party from 2013-15.^[2] After becoming Punjab President he serves on both the Central executive committee and Core committee (Politburo) ^[3] Chaudhary's political views are frequently described as moderate, based on the principals of Islam and of communal tolerance ^[4] He frequently helps female members of his party by organising protests to condemn the abuse and assault of women in Pakistan ^[5] A bill against Domestic violence had been sent by the Chaudhary to the Punjab assembly, which after pending a vote for 3 years was approved by the government and opposition ^[6] Chaudhary is a former deputy mayor of Lahore.

Early life

Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhary was born in one of the Kamboh families of Lahore. He went to a boarding school in the North of the country, in Kohat. He has an FSc from Cadet College Kohat and a BSc in Civil Engineering from University of Engineering and Technology Lahore. Chaudhary is highly regarded by the Arain caste of Zamindars (traditional landowners) his popularity in local politics has helped elect PTI officials as MPA's in Lahore, specifically in PP-147 and PP-148 where those caste's form a majority.

Personal life

Chaudhary married Salma Ejaz in 1984, his wife is the daughter of Mian Tufail Mohammad one of the original founding members and leader of Jamaat-e-Islami. Much of Chaudhary's early political career was in the Jamaat. Chaudhary is the founder and the chief executive officer of Kisan Care (pvt ltd) providing agricultural chemicals ^[7]

Political career

Early career: Jamaat-e-Islami

Chaudhary started his political career in the Jamaat-e-Islami student wing and had gradually progressed up the ranks of the party; he became national leader of the Jamaat student wing. Chaudhary and General Zia-ul-Haq were initially on good terms as Zia was keen to placate the religious right. However Chaudhary fast became disillusioned with Zia's undemocratic ways and as leader of the youth wing, Chaudhary dissented from the majority of the senior leadership as he opposed the regime of dictator General Zia-ul-Haq. Chaudhary organised protests in his native Lahore as national leader of the Jamaat's youth wing, General Zia soon ordered repression of the protests and Chaudhary along with his leaders and followers were tortured and imprisoned by the regime police and security services.

The death of General Zia in 1988 breathed new life into Pakistan's faltering democracy; during this period Chaudhary served as deputy mayor of Lahore in the early 1990s. Chaudhary continued to rise in the party's ranks and by 1998 he was appointed to the Central Executive Committee (the top decision-making body of the party) Chaudhary continued to dissent in the 1990s from official party line on many cases; he voted against the Jamaat forming a coalition with the Pakistan Muslim League (N) for the 1999 elections while on the Central Executive Committee; however, the Jamaat formed an alliance; by this time Chaudhary had become disillusioned with the Jamaat as he felt that the party had lost its way in protecting the national interests of Pakistan, he left the party in 2006. Upon the death of Qazi Hussain Ahmed (the man who Chaudhary fell out with over his moderate approach compared to Ahmed's more conservative approach) it became evidently clear the two men had managed to reconcile their differences at some point while Chaudhary had still defected to PTI^[8][9]

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf: 2007–present

By September 2007, Chaudhary joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and since then has risen through the party's ranks. When General Pervez Musharraf imposed martial law in November 2007, he suspended the constitution and judiciary, PTI protested; subsequently Chaudhary along with other senior officials and leader Imran Khan had to go into hiding, switching between safehouses in Islamabad and Lahore, while still protesting against renewed military rule. Chaudhary managed to evade capture; however, Imran Khan was captured at the same rally and handed over to the military by the Jamaat youth wing (ironically the same youth wing Chaudhary was president of 18 years previously).^[10]

Then Vice-president Ejaz Chaudhary is on the right, Imran Khan (centre), on the left is Ahsan Rasheed (former Punjab President, Chaudhary defeated Rasheed in the 2013 intra-party elections)

Presently he is a spokesperson for religious affairs, former central vice-president (Punjab) of the party, currently President of Punjab and is also currently responsible for organising PTI in southern parts of Punjab province.^[11] By mid-2012, Chaudhary's efforts had paid off and PTI became the dominant party in the southern parts of Punjab province, reflected in polls by International Republican Institute which showed the gap between PTI and PML-N had close significantly in Punjab,^[12] a direct result of the vice-president's efforts. By July 2012, the vice-president began to focus efforts in his native city of Lahore to ensure the gap between PTI and the other parties closes even more by the approaching general election.

Chaudhary won the PTI intra-party elections, scoring victories in three out of four regions in Punjab province,^[13] electing him to the higher position of President of PTI in Punjab and his panel including Dr Yasmeen Rashid as general secretary in Punjab.^[14][15]

On 2 February 2014, Chaudhary made it evidently clear that Imran Khan would not be negotiating for the Taliban in the peace process; he stated that Khan, himself and PTI were happy to facilitate the process but could not get involved directly because PTI did not have the constitutional legitimacy to lead the process, which was to be led by PML-N. He also stated that the Taliban should not require Imran Khan to negotiate on their behalf, but rather members of the Taliban should involve themselves because the peace talks were more likely to come to fruition^[16]

Chaudhary, along with Yasmin Rashid were instrumental in making PTI the first political party both in Pakistan and the sub-continent to have audited ISO-9000 certificates issued by an international firm, further bolstering the PTI's claim to be an anti-corruption party ^[17]

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf: Past contributions

Shortly after joining Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Chaudhary took charge of establishing the Insaf Students Federation (ISF). After successfully preparing the student youth wing structure in Pakistan's important universities, he empowered the youth to struggle for democracy and an independent judiciary.

Ejaz Chaudhary also co-founded the Kisan Insaf Mahaz (KAM) which servesas a platform for empowering the farmers' community in Pakistan, his role in Pakistan's agriculture reflected his family's heritage as well as his power as PTI leader in Punjab regions^[18]

Following the scandal after an attempted assassination on Hamid Mir and the Geo-ISI rivalry,^[19] Ejaz Chaudhary challenged Geo's journalist Ifitkhar Ahmed to a debate over Geo's unsubstantiated allegations against the ISI and on the role of rigging in elections. Iftikhar Ahmed has not responded to the challenge ^[20] Chaudhary and fellow party ally Shah Mehmood Qureshi were influential in getting the PML-Q and the MWM (Pakistan's main Shia party) to support the PTI on a campaign against election rigging^[21]

Philanthropy

In his early career Ejaz Chaudhary worked for the Jamaat-e-Islami charities in 1985 he was appointed head to the Majlis Khidmat e Islami (the main Jamaat-e-Islami) charity, they provided free medical aid, blood transfusion's and ambulance to the poor in Lahore ^[22][23] also the charity helped to provide emergency relief to those who suffered from natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods,^[24] furthermore Chaudhary has been vocally advocating for improved conditions in the Pakistani jail system, which is closely linked to the justice system. In August 2012 Chaudhary strongly condemned the attacks against Pakistan's Shia' community in Gilgit-Baltistan which killed 25 Shia Muslims ^[25]

References