Syeda Shehla Raza Zaidi ( ur, ) (born 15 May 1964 in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

) is a

Pakistan People's Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded i ...

politician in the

Sindh province Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

of Pakistan. In 2008, she was unanimously elected deputy speaker in the Thirteenth Assembly of the

Sindh Assembly The Provincial Assembly of Sindh ( ur, ) is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani provinces, Pakistani province of Sindh, and is located in Karachi, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of ...

, and re-elected in 2013 for that position in the Fourteenth Assembly.

Early education

Raza completed her undergraduate and graduate education at the

University of Karachi The University of Karachi ( sd, ; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh ...

, receiving her

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

Physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemic ...

in 1991.

Political career

Her political career began while she was attending university. In 1986, she joined the People's Students Federation, a student wing of the

, when political activities were banned. Her activism began during this period of military rule. Three years later, Raza was elected as the Joint Secretary of the People's Student Federation. In 1990, after the right-wing conservative alliance, the Islamic Democratic Alliance (IDA), formed a government, she was arrested and incarcerated for almost a month for her political activities, based upon allegations of a double murder and possession of illegal arms. The charges were later dropped. Politically she was a protege of

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...

, who picked her for the party's "reserved women's seat" in the Sindh Assembly for the 2009 elections.

Personal life

In 1991, she married Ghulam Qadir, a former politician and then a general manager for Shahzeb Pharmaceutical Company. Her first child, a daughter, was born in 1992; in 1994 she had a son. Both of them were killed in a traffic accident in 2005.

References

1964 births Living people Peoples Students Federation Pakistani Shia Muslims Pakistan People's Party MPAs (Sindh) Politicians from Karachi Sindh MPAs 2008–2013 Sindh MPAs 2013–2018 Women members of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh Pakistani prisoners and detainees Women legislative deputy speakers University of Karachi alumni Deputy Speakers of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh Sindh MPAs 2018–2023 21st-century Pakistani women politicians {{Sindh-MPA-stub