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Dr.
Zaheer-ud-din Babar awan born 27 January
1957 is a senator in Pakistans
upper House , he is a leading practising lawyer and a member of Pakistan
Peoples Party Central Executive Committee. Babar Awan won the Senate election
in 2006 unopposed on the ticket of
PPPP which was a parliamentry name of Benazirs PPP.
Early life
Born in a
Village called Hothla near Kahuta (Rawalpindi).
Awan belonged to a middle class family. He spent some time in the Middle East
mainly Saudi Arabia , Qatar and Kuwait and is a fluent Arabic
speaker.
Education
He has
done a 4 year long Sharia Law course in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia.
He is also a senior advocate of Supreme Court. He has done several leadership
courses in England and the United States of America.
Babar Awan as an Islamic
scholar
He has
done courses about Islamic Jurisprudence from Saudi Arabia. He has had the
opportunity to speak at many international forums.
Political Career
He was a
student leader in his student life. He first joined the PML-Junejo of Former
Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Khan Junejo. In 1996, he joined the Pakistan People's Party.
Election 1997 & 2002
In 1997 Awan contested in the General
Elections from Murree from the PPP, he was unsuccessful. He ran again in 2002Islamabad but was defeated
again.
Finance secretary of the Pakistan
People's Party
In 2004 Benazir Bhutto appointed Awan as
the finance secretary of the Pakistan People's Party.
Senate Election March
2006
In 2006 Awan contested the Senate Election
and was elected unopposed.
Benazir Bhutto's
assassination attempts
Awan was
present on 19 October attack on
Benazir Bhutto and then when Benazir Bhutto was killed in Rawalpindi.
Loyal PPP activist
Babar
Awan was Benazir's speech writer and her negotiating link while she was in Dubai. She dubbed him as a younger brother. He
was tipped to be senior minister had
she been alive and in power. Awan has been arrested several time in Nawaz
Sharif's reign and in Pervez Musharraf's reign. In November 2004, Awan was hit in the head by a gas shell. The scar is
still prominent on his forehead. He was put under house arrest in 2007.
Military government of
Musharaf
When
military government of Musharaf took over an accountability body NAB it carried
out further so called cleansing but it often ending up with victimization of
politicians who did not cooperate with Musharaf for his undemocratic
credentials.
Over a
period of time a huge collection of varied political leadership involving
everybody not cooperating with Musharraf were implicated .This list was long
and included the former chief minister of Punjab Manzoor Watoo current PPP
co-chairperson asif Zardari the personal secretary of Benazir Bhutto Nahid
Khans husband and civil servants as Salman Farooqui who all used Dr.Babar Awans
legal skills and oratory to good effect .
Minister for
Parliamentary Affairs & Federal Minister of Law
He was
appointed Minister for Parliamentary Affairs in November, 2008. He was elevated as Law Minister in December 2009. |
