Pervaiz Rashid () is a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

politician who served as the Federal Minister of Information, Broadcasting, and National Heritage and Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights in the Third Sharif ministry. A member of

Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) The Pakistan Muslim League (N) or (PML(N)) is a centre-right, conservative political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third-largest party in the Senate and the largest in the National Assembly. The party was founded in 1993, when a num ...

, Rashid has been a member of the Senate of Pakistan since 2009 and previously served as the Chairman of the

Pakistan Television Corporation Pakistan Television Corporation (; reporting name: PTV); also known as ''Pakistan Television'', is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster founded by the Government of Pakistan, operating under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. I ...

from 1997 to 1999 during the Sharif's government in 1997. Considered a representative of the left-wing of the PML-N, he has previously described himself as a

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

and as an admirer of

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

and Meraj Muhammad Khan.

Early life and education

Rashid belongs to a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

Kakazai The Kakazai (, Urdu, ),

family. He studied at the

Government Gordon College Government Gordon College, Rawalpindi is a government college in Rawalpindi, Pakistan that was established as a church school in 1893. The college is named after Andrew Gordon.(Muhammad AsifGordon College Rawalpindi: A victim of flawed policiesP ...

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

where alongside fellow politician

Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad (; born 6 November 1950) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 38th Interior Minister of Pakistan in Imran Khan government from 2020 to 2022. He is the founder and leader of Awami Muslim League, and also maintains cl ...

he was a member of the debating club.

Political career

Pakistan People's Party

Rashid started his political career as a student leader from

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a political party in Pakistan and one of the three major List of political parties in Pakistan, Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. With a Cent ...

student wing, PSF, from Gordon College Rawalpindi. When

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

imposed the martial law in 1970, as he refused to hand power to

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

, Rashid, despite being a PPP supporter, protested and was eventually put in jail. He would later become one of the founders of PPP Rawalpindi, mainly to counter the rise of Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, his once college mate. Later he'd be appointed the personal secretary to the chief minister of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

, and while he was mostly inactive in politics during the rule of General

Zia-ul-Haq Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also served as the second chief of ...

, he'd re-emerge in the mid-1990s as a close aide of

Shehbaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (born 23 September 1951) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who has served as the 20th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan since March 2024, having previously been in the role between Ap ...

, being recommended by

Nazir Naji Nazir Naji (; 1942/1943 – 21 February 2024) was a Pakistani journalist and Urdu columnist. He served for 27 years as a senior Urdu columnist for ''Daily Jang''. Life and career Nazir Naji was born in 1942 or 1943. He was the chairman of the P ...

Pakistan Muslim League (N)

Later he joined PML-N and was elected member of the Senate in 1997 on

PML-N The Pakistan Muslim League (N) or (PML(N)) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right, Conservatism in Pakistan, conservative political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third-largest party in the Senate of Pakistan, Senate and the larges ...

party ticket. He was made Chairman Pakistan Television Corporation in 1997. He was arrested by the army after the 1999 Musharraf takeover and jailed. He was sworn in as Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting in June 2013. In November 2013, he was given the additional charge of Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights. He was re-elected to the Senate of Pakistan as a candidate of PML (N) in the 2015 Pakistani Senate election. He was made to resign in October 2016 from his position as Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage following the report which alleged his involvement in leaking contents of a high-profile security meeting.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rashid, Pervez 1950 births Pakistan Muslim League (N) politicians Living people Pakistani television directors Pakistan Television Corporation executives Pakistani television writers Pakistani broadcasters Pakistani media executives Pakistani political writers Government Gordon College alumni Pakistani senators (14th Parliament) Pakistani Marxists Muslim socialists