Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri
Encyclopedia
Mian Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri (born 1941) is a Pakistan
i politician and diplomat. He was the Foreign Minister of Pakistan
from 2002 to 2007.
; his grandfather Maulana Abdul Qadir Kasuri was a leader of the Indian National Congress
and his father Mahmud Ali Kasuri
was also in the Congress (until 1940) and was sentenced in 1930 to four months' imprisonment. Mahmud Kasuri was briefly a member of Z.A. Bhutto's Cabinet. His father, the late Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri, was also a member of the Federal Cabinet.
He is the grandson of the late Maulana Abdul Qadir Kasuri who was one of the leading lawyers of the day as well as a valiant freedom fighter against the British colonial rule in the sub-continent. The late Maulana was one of the leaders of the Khilafat and independence movements and remained in prison for many years because of his opposition to British colonial rule. His father, Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri, and his uncles, the late Maulana Mohammad Ali Kasuri, who was a triple first mathematics wrangler from Cambridge and Maulana Mohyuddin Kasuri, also took active part in the freedom movement. They were arrested on numerous occasions during the independence movement. His father, the late Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri, was one of the top lawyers and politicians of the country and was widely regarded as the father of the human rights movement in Pakistan . He was one of the few politicians in the country to give up high office on a point of principle when he resigned as Federal Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs and Deputy Leader of the National Assembly due to differences on political and constitutional matters with the then government. Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri
's contribution towards the framing of the original 1973 Constitution is widely acknowledged.
in 1961. At the Government College, he was awarded many academic prizes and Rolls of Honour. After completing his education at home, he proceeded abroad for higher studies. He did his tripos in Law from Cambridge University. After Cambridge he was admitted to Oxford University for post-graduate work in Public Administration and Political Science. He took French Civilization courses at the Sorbonne University in Paris
and the University of Nice in France
. He was called to the Bar from Gray's Inn
, London. On a lecture tour of the United States, he lectured at leading American Universities in their South Asian and Political Science Faculties. He was also the author of a report for the Government of Pakistan on how Pakistan studies could be promoted at American Universities; large parts of his report were implemented by the government.
tragedy.
He entered politics at an early age and joined the Tehrik-e-Istiqlal
. He is the former Secretary General of the Tehrik-e-Istiqlal. He has been arrested on innumerable occasions during his long political career in the struggle for democracy. After the government of General Zia-ul-Haq went back on its promise to hold general elections in the country, leading political parties got together under the banner of the MRD for the purpose of holding general elections, restoration of fundamental rights of the citizens, removal of restrictions placed on the free functioning of the press and the establishment of an independent judiciary. He was arrested on numerous occasions for taking part in a movement launched by the political parties in February 1981 for the achievement of the above objectives. Earlier, he was also arrested during the PNA Movement.
After the formation of the Peoples Democratic Alliance prior to the 1990 elections, Mian Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri was unanimously elected as the first Secretary General of the PDA. The PDA was then the main opposition alliance in Pakistan and it consisted of the Pakistan Peoples Party, the Tehrik-e-Istiqlal, the Nifaz-e-Fiqah-e-Jaferia, the Pakistan Muslim League
(Qasim group) and the Pukhtoonkhawa Qoumi Party. He was appointed Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs in the interim government of Prime Minister Mir Balakh Sher Mazari
. He represented the Tehrik-e-Istiqlal in that government.
(NA-106) on PML (N) ticket.
In the 2002 elections, he changed his party affiliation to PML (Q) and won a seat from NA-140 Kasur. He was the Chairman of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Information and Media Development and was also a member of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Foreign Relations.
Mian Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri is one of the few members of the Pakistan Muslim League, Quaid-e-Azam PML(Q) and the Central Working Committee who always expressed his views on all the national issues frankly and fearlessly regardless of whether the government of the day liked his views or not. For example, his views during the judicial crisis, on the issue of the impeachment of the former President Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari and on the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan
and Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan were expressed very strongly and were covered and commented upon extensively by the media at that time. The 15th Amendment, particularly as originally presented, was strongly objected to by him. It was primarily due to his efforts and that of some of his colleagues that the government had to make an amendment in the original Bill, which contained provisions, which were highly detrimental to the federal and democratic structure of the Constitution including provisions relating to making amendments in the Constitution. He was so determined not to let the bill pass in its original shape that he threatened to resign unless the bill was amended (in fact he did resign – the resignation was torn up in a stormy meeting of the Parliamentary party by other parliamentarians).
Mian Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri visited the People's Republic of China
as a member of the Pakistan Muslim League's delegation in 1996. This delegation was invited by the Communist Party of China and was received by the top leadership of the Party. He has also attended the International Parliamentary Union Conferences held in Seoul
and in Cairo
in 1997 as a member of the Pakistan Parliamentary Delegations.
He was sent as the Prime Minister's Special Envoy to various important countries to explain Pakistan 's point of view on the important developments in 1998 and 1999.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i politician and diplomat. He was the Foreign Minister of Pakistan
Foreign Minister of Pakistan
The Foreign Minister of Pakistan heads the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The current Foreign Minister is Hina Rabbani Khar who took office as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs on 11 February 2011, and as full Minister of Foreign Affairs on 20 July, 2011...
from 2002 to 2007.
Family background
Khurshid M. Kasuri belongs to one of the old political families of Pakistan. He comes from a well-known political family of PunjabPunjab (Pakistan)
Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...
; his grandfather Maulana Abdul Qadir Kasuri was a leader of the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
and his father Mahmud Ali Kasuri
Mahmud Ali Kasuri
Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri was a prominent Pakistani opposition politician, human rights advocate and lawyer...
was also in the Congress (until 1940) and was sentenced in 1930 to four months' imprisonment. Mahmud Kasuri was briefly a member of Z.A. Bhutto's Cabinet. His father, the late Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri, was also a member of the Federal Cabinet.
He is the grandson of the late Maulana Abdul Qadir Kasuri who was one of the leading lawyers of the day as well as a valiant freedom fighter against the British colonial rule in the sub-continent. The late Maulana was one of the leaders of the Khilafat and independence movements and remained in prison for many years because of his opposition to British colonial rule. His father, Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri, and his uncles, the late Maulana Mohammad Ali Kasuri, who was a triple first mathematics wrangler from Cambridge and Maulana Mohyuddin Kasuri, also took active part in the freedom movement. They were arrested on numerous occasions during the independence movement. His father, the late Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri, was one of the top lawyers and politicians of the country and was widely regarded as the father of the human rights movement in Pakistan . He was one of the few politicians in the country to give up high office on a point of principle when he resigned as Federal Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs and Deputy Leader of the National Assembly due to differences on political and constitutional matters with the then government. Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri
Mahmud Ali Kasuri
Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri was a prominent Pakistani opposition politician, human rights advocate and lawyer...
's contribution towards the framing of the original 1973 Constitution is widely acknowledged.
Academic
Throughout his academic career he had a uniformly excellent record, which culminated in his topping in the B.A (Hons) Examination of the Punjab UniversityUniversity of the Punjab
University of the Punjab , colloquially known as Punjab University, is located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. The University of the Punjab is the oldest and biggest University of Pakistan. The University of the Punjab was formally established with the convening of the first meeting of its...
in 1961. At the Government College, he was awarded many academic prizes and Rolls of Honour. After completing his education at home, he proceeded abroad for higher studies. He did his tripos in Law from Cambridge University. After Cambridge he was admitted to Oxford University for post-graduate work in Public Administration and Political Science. He took French Civilization courses at the Sorbonne University in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and the University of Nice in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. He was called to the Bar from Gray's Inn
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
, London. On a lecture tour of the United States, he lectured at leading American Universities in their South Asian and Political Science Faculties. He was also the author of a report for the Government of Pakistan on how Pakistan studies could be promoted at American Universities; large parts of his report were implemented by the government.
Early career
Immediately on his return from abroad after completing his higher education, he started his political career by taking an active part in the political movement launched by the combined opposition parties during the days of Field Marshal Muhammad Ayub Khan for the restoration of democracy. The Pakistan government sent Mian Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri on official assignments to UK and US in 1972 to represent Pakistan 's point of view on issues of concern to Pakistan following the BangladeshBangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
tragedy.
He entered politics at an early age and joined the Tehrik-e-Istiqlal
Tehrik-e-Istiqlal
Tehrik-e-Istiqlal Pakistan is a political party in Pakistan. It was formed by Air Marshal Retd. Asghar Khan in 1970. Asghar Khan has retired from the post of President of the party and is currently headed by [Asaf Fasifuddin Vardag], former Member of the senate.In 1979 Tehrik-e-Istiqlal Pakistan...
. He is the former Secretary General of the Tehrik-e-Istiqlal. He has been arrested on innumerable occasions during his long political career in the struggle for democracy. After the government of General Zia-ul-Haq went back on its promise to hold general elections in the country, leading political parties got together under the banner of the MRD for the purpose of holding general elections, restoration of fundamental rights of the citizens, removal of restrictions placed on the free functioning of the press and the establishment of an independent judiciary. He was arrested on numerous occasions for taking part in a movement launched by the political parties in February 1981 for the achievement of the above objectives. Earlier, he was also arrested during the PNA Movement.
After the formation of the Peoples Democratic Alliance prior to the 1990 elections, Mian Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri was unanimously elected as the first Secretary General of the PDA. The PDA was then the main opposition alliance in Pakistan and it consisted of the Pakistan Peoples Party, the Tehrik-e-Istiqlal, the Nifaz-e-Fiqah-e-Jaferia, the Pakistan Muslim League
Pakistan Muslim League
The Pakistan Muslim League was founded in 1962, as a successor to the previously disbanded Muslim League in Pakistan. Unlike the original PML which ended in 1958 when General Ayub Khan banned all political parties, each subsequent Muslim League was in some way propped by the military dictators of...
(Qasim group) and the Pukhtoonkhawa Qoumi Party. He was appointed Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs in the interim government of Prime Minister Mir Balakh Sher Mazari
Balakh Sher Mazari
Sardar Mir Balakh Sher Mazari is the Chieftain and the Paramount Sardar of the Mazari tribe, which is situated on the tri-border area of Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan. As the Chief of Mazaris he holds the title of Mir and also goes by the styles of Tumandar and Sardar. Mir...
. He represented the Tehrik-e-Istiqlal in that government.
1993-Present
Just prior to the 1993 elections, the PDA broke up and the Tehrik-e-Istiqlal left the PDA and entered into an alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League. He was the Vice President of the Pakistan Muslim League. In the 1997 elections he was elected to the National Assembly from KasurKasur
Kasur , the capital of Kasur District in Pakistan. Kasur is located adjacent to the border of Ganda Singh Wala between Pakistan and India, and is a tourist attraction because of the daily occurring Flags lowering ceremony...
(NA-106) on PML (N) ticket.
In the 2002 elections, he changed his party affiliation to PML (Q) and won a seat from NA-140 Kasur. He was the Chairman of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Information and Media Development and was also a member of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Foreign Relations.
Mian Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri is one of the few members of the Pakistan Muslim League, Quaid-e-Azam PML(Q) and the Central Working Committee who always expressed his views on all the national issues frankly and fearlessly regardless of whether the government of the day liked his views or not. For example, his views during the judicial crisis, on the issue of the impeachment of the former President Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari and on the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan
Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan
The Constitution Act, 1997 was an amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan passed in 1997, during the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League party. It subjected Members of Parliament to very strict party discipline...
and Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan were expressed very strongly and were covered and commented upon extensively by the media at that time. The 15th Amendment, particularly as originally presented, was strongly objected to by him. It was primarily due to his efforts and that of some of his colleagues that the government had to make an amendment in the original Bill, which contained provisions, which were highly detrimental to the federal and democratic structure of the Constitution including provisions relating to making amendments in the Constitution. He was so determined not to let the bill pass in its original shape that he threatened to resign unless the bill was amended (in fact he did resign – the resignation was torn up in a stormy meeting of the Parliamentary party by other parliamentarians).
Official/Diplomatic Missions (prior to appointment as Foreign Minister)
Prior to his appointment as Foreign Minister he had represented Pakistan on different occasions. As early as 1972, on an official visit to the United States of America, he represented Pakistan in talks with the Administration.Mian Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri visited the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
as a member of the Pakistan Muslim League's delegation in 1996. This delegation was invited by the Communist Party of China and was received by the top leadership of the Party. He has also attended the International Parliamentary Union Conferences held in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
and in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
in 1997 as a member of the Pakistan Parliamentary Delegations.
He was sent as the Prime Minister's Special Envoy to various important countries to explain Pakistan 's point of view on the important developments in 1998 and 1999.