Shah Mehmood Qureshi

Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi (Urdu: مخدوم شاہ محمود قریشی‎) MP
Foreign Minister of Pakistan
In office 31 March 2008 – 9 February 2011
President	Pervez Musharraf Asif Ali Zardari
Prime Minister	Yousaf Raza Gillani
Preceded by	Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri
Succeeded by	Hina Rabbani Khar
Vice-Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 November 2011
Preceded by	Office Established
Minister of Planning and Development of Punjab
In office 1990–1993
Prime Minister	Benazir Bhutto
Governor	Mian Muhammad Azhar
Constituency	Multan
Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 May 2013
President	Mamnoon Hussain
Prime Minister	Nawaz Sharif
Constituency	Multan
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office March 2008 – November 2011
President	Asif Ali Zardari
Prime Minister	Yousaf Raza Gillani
Preceded by	Inam-ul-Haq
Succeeded by	Hina Rabbani Khar
Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
In office March 2002 – December 2007
President	Pervez Musharraf
Prime Minister	Zafarullah Khan Jamali Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Shaukat Aziz Muhammad Mian Soomro
Constituency	Multan
Personal details
Born	(1956-06-22) 22 June 1956 Multan, Punjab, Pakistan
Political party	Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (2011–present)
Other political affiliations	Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (1988–1990) Pakistan Peoples Party (1990–2011)
Spouse(s)	Mehriene Qureshi
Parents	Sajjad Hussain Qureshi
Alma mater	Aitchison College, Forman Christian College University University of Cambridge
Profession	Agriculturist/politician
Religion	Islam (Sufi)

Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi (Urdu: شاه محمود قریشی‎; born 22 June 1956) is a Pakistani politician, agriculturist and a parliamentarian who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2008 and 2011. Since 2013, he serve's as the vice chairman and deputy parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Movement for Justice.^[1][2]

Qureshi entered politics in 1983 after studying history at Forman and law at Cambridge, he was elected as an independent member of Punjab Assembly, only to join the centre-right Muslim League in 1988. He served in the provincial cabinet as minister overseeing the portfolios of planning, development and finance in the conservative Wyne administration until 1993, when he joined the center left PPP. He was elected to the National Assembly the same year from Multan-III and served as the junior minister for parliamentary affairs until 1996 under the Benazir administration.^[3]

Qureshi served as the provincial leader of the PPP for Punjab between 1999 and 2007, while remaining a MP from Multan-III. In 2008, he was appointed as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan and a and high-ranking member of the central executive committee of the Pakistan Peoples Party. Qureshi was sacked from the position on 9th of February 2011 over the Raymond Davis affair. He substantially resigned from the national assembly and joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.^[4][5]

Qureshi was elected an MP from NA-150 (Multan-III) on 2013 and was elected as the vice chairman of Tehreek-e-Insaf.^[6] Qureshi is also the current Sajjada Nashin and custodian of the Mausoleum of Shah Rukn-e-Alam^[7] and of the Shrine (Darbar) of Hazrat Baha-ud-din Zakariya.^[8] An agriculturalist by trade, Qureshi is also the president of the Farmers Association of Pakistan.^[9] Qureshi is the custodian of Sufi shrines in Pakistan, namely that of Sufi Saint Bahauddin Zakariya, the patron saint of Multan and Qureshi supports Sufism to combat terrorism.^[10]

Early life

Qureshi family hails from a prominent Sufi Muslim^[11] and political family from Multan. He is married and has 3 children. He is the eldest son of Makhdoom Sajjad Hussain Qureshi. Makhdoom Sajjad Qureshi was former Governor Punjab and Sajjada Nashin for Mausoleum of Shah Rukn-e-Alam, the Darbar of Hazrat Baha-ud-din Zakariya and Darbar Bibi Rasti. Shah Mehmood Qureshi is 32nd Sajjada Nashin of Darbar Hazrat Baha-ud-din Zakariya according to the family lineage of Qureshi family. Qureshi family of Multan is Asadi Al-Hashmi Qureshi and their family lineage meets with the family lineage of Prophet Muhammad on Hazrat Hashim and is said to have belonging to the house of Aswad, son of Muttabb, son of Asad. It is also related that Qureshi family traced its descent from Asad Qurshi, who was one of the forefathers of Hazrat Ali son-in-law of the Holy Prophet Muhammad. Grandfather of Hazrat Baha-ud-din Zakariya, Shaikh Kamaluddin Ali Shah, migrated from Mecca to Khwarezm and then to Kot Karor near Multan in 200 AH where they settled down permanently.^[12] Qureshi family is considered as one of noble and famous family in Pakistan with many spiritual followers in South Asia. Ghousia Jamait, group of the followers of Hazrat Baha-ud-din Zakariya are found in all districts of Sindh. A large population of Ghousia Jamait followers also lives in Rajasthan. India.

Education

Qureshi received his early education from Aitchison College, Lahore. He received a bachelor's degree in History from Forman Christian College. Qureshi also received a master's degree in Law and Politics from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.^[13]

Political career

In 1983 Qureshi started his political career after returning from the UK. He contested for the seat of Member District Council Multan for which he faced defeat from Makhdoom Mukhtar Hashmi youngest of the brothers of Makhdoom Javed Hashmi.

Qureshi was later elected to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from Multan in 1985, which were held on a non-party basis. He joined the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) under the leadership of Muhammad Khan Junejo in 1986.^[14]

He joined the faction of PML led by Nawaz Sharif, which later became PML (N), when PML split in 1988 after the death of Zia-ul-Haq. He was re-elected to the Punjab Assembly from Multan in 1988. He served as the Minister of Planning and Development in the cabinet of Chief Minister Nawaz Sharif from November 1988 to August 1990.^[14]

Qureshi served as the Minister of Finance in Chief Minister Nawaz Sharif's cabinet from 1990–1993. Qureshi parted ways with Nawaz Sharif in 1993 and joined the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in 1993 under the leadership of Benazir Bhutto. He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Multan in the general elections of 1993, and served as the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs under Prime Minister Bhutto. Qureshi was defeated in the 1997 general election by Makhdoom Javed Hashmi.

Qureshi served as the District Nazim of Multan from 2000 to 2002.^[15] He won subsequent elections to the National Assembly from Multan in 2002 and 2008 as a member of the PPP. Benazir Bhutto made Qureshi the President of PPP in Punjab in 2006.^[16]

Following the general election of 2008, Qureshi was a potential candidate for the Prime Minister of Pakistan in the coalition government headed by the PPP. However, given his political history prior to joining the 8,^[15] Qureshi was instead given the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani. He lost the portfolio of Foreign Minister in February 2011, following the Raymond Davis affair.^[14] Qureshi opposed the PPP's pact with PML-Q, since he believed PML-Q to be indirectly involved in the killing of Benazir Bhutto.

Qureshi resigned from the PPP, as well as his National Assembly membership, in November 2011.^[17] He has been in contact with both Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to join one of these parties.^[18] In a TV talk show Imran Khan confirmed that Shah Mahmood Qureshi would join the PTI rally on 27 November 2011 at Ghotki.

Minister of Foreign Affairs (2008–2011)

With Hillary Clinton.

After taking charge of the office, Qureshi immediately made clear that he was committed to establishing peace in the region and that maintaining friendly ties with neighbouring India were amongst his top priorities.^[19] Qureshi went on his first visit as foreign minister to China in October 2008 with Ahmad Mukhtar and President Asif Ali Zardari.^[20] On his arrival back, he was given praise for his work. Qureshi has visited many countries as Foreign Minister and has been very busy explaining Pakistan's stance on the war on terror to the foreign world.

In 2011, Shah Mahmood Qureshi faced criticism in Pakistan when it was discovered that his son, Zain H. Qureshi, was working as a Legislative Fellow in the office of Sen. John Kerry^[21] In February 2011, the Government of Pakistan reduced the number of cabinet seats.^[22] During this transition, Shah Mahmood Qureshi was offered the position of Minister of Water and Power. He declined, saying that he was "not interested in water and power ministry in place of foreign affairs."^[23]

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi listen during the U.S. Pakistan Strategic Dialogue meeting.

Joining Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf

Shah Mahmood Qureshi resigned from the Pakistan People's Party and the National Assembly saying that "I had joined the PPP under Benazir Bhutto’s leadership, but this is not the same party anymore, it is Zardari’s league"^[24] On 27 November 2011 Qureshi announced his joining of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in a rally in Ghotki, Sindh. He was appointed Vice-Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and member of the political strategy committee. He stated that the cause behind joining PTI was to bring about a revolution in Pakistan. He is currently serving as National Organizer of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Qureshi was elected an MP from NA-150 (Multan-III) and was the runner up from NA-228 (Mirpur Khas-III) and NA-148 (Multan-I) on 11 May 2013 on the ticket of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.^[25]

See also

• Makhdoom

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

• Profile of Shah Mahmood Qureshi at Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Two-Minute Bio: Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Time Magazine
• Profile of Shah Mahmood Qureshi