30 Facts About Aitzaz Ahsan

Chaudhary Aitzaz Ahsan is a Pakistani politician and lawyer.

Aitzaz Ahsan served as the Leader of the House in the Senate of Pakistan from 1994 to 1996, and as the Leader of the Opposition from 1996 till 2000 and again from 2012 to 2018.

Aitzaz Ahsan was elected a member of the Senate of Pakistan from Punjab in 1994.

Aitzaz Ahsan became the Planning and Development Minister for Punjab in 1975.

Aitzaz Ahsan was elected to the National Assembly from Lahore in 1988 and served as the interior minister of Pakistan under Benazir Bhutto's first government and served until 1990.

Aitzaz Ahsan was elected as a member of the Senate in 1994.

Aitzaz Ahsan re-joined the cabinet after Benazir's re-election, and went on to serve as the Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights until 1997.

Aitzaz Ahsan served as the minority leader in the Senate between 1996 and 1999.

Aitzaz Ahsan was elected to the National Assembly again in 2002, and went on to serve as the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association between 2007 and 2008.

Aitzaz Ahsan was elected to the Senate in 2012 and in 2015 became the minority leader.

Aitzaz Ahsan was born on 27 September 1945, in Murree, British Punjab.

Aitzaz Ahsan belongs to a Punjabi Jat family of the Warraich clan, and grew up in Lahore.

Aitzaz Ahsan then enrolled in Government College Lahore and later studied law at Downing College, Cambridge.

Aitzaz Ahsan then appeared in Central Superior Services examination where he reportedly topped.

Aitzaz Ahsan joined Pakistan Peoples Party and began his political career in 1970s.

Aitzaz Ahsan was inducted in the provincial cabinet of Punjab and was appointed the Provincial Minister for information, planning and development.

Aitzaz Ahsan was in his twenties during his tenure as provincial minister.

Aitzaz Ahsan was reportedly jailed for two years during Zia -ul-Haq presidency.

Aitzaz Ahsan was inducted into federal cabinet and was appointed the Minister for Law and Justice, along with the additional portfolio of the Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control.

Aitzaz Ahsan lost the Pakistan General elections of 1993 to Humayun Akhtar Khan of Pakistan Muslim League.

Aitzaz Ahsan was re-elected as the member of the National Assembly for the third time from constituencies of Bahawalpur and Lahore.

Aitzaz Ahsan did not run in the Pakistan General elections of 2008 due to his involvement in the Lawyers' Movement for the restoration of deposed judges.

Professionally, Aitzaz Ahsan is a barrister by law and a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Aitzaz Ahsan has represented several high-profile Pakistani personalities including three Prime ministers of Pakistan in various cases such as Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto and Yousaf Raza Gillani and former President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari.

Aitzaz Ahsan had served as President of Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan.

Aitzaz Ahsan is known for representing and leading the lawyers campaign to reinstate former Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

In 2008, Aitzaz Ahsan was awarded the Asian Human Rights Defender Award by the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission in recognition.

Aitzaz Ahsan was under house arrest in his house in Lahore for four months.

Aitzaz Ahsan is the author of the book The Indus Saga and the Making of Pakistan and its Urdu translation, Sindh Sagar Aur Qyam-e-Pakistan which presents the cultural history of Pakistan and argues that the Indus region is a distinct entity from the rest of India and constitutes a nation.

Aitzaz Ahsan has co-authored the book Divided by Democracy with Lord Meghnad Desai of the London School of Economics.