Rao Sikandar Iqbal () (c. 1943 – 29 September 2010) was the Senior Minister and

Defence Minister of Pakistan The Minister of Defence (Urdu: 'وزیرِ دفاع') heads the Ministry of Defence (Pakistan), Ministry of Defence. The minister serves in the cabinet of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Prime Minister and is required to be a member of Parliament ...

from 2002 to 2007.

Biography

Born in 1943, Iqbal took his primary education in

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

, after which he joined the

Forman Christian College Forman Christian College is a private nonprofit Liberal arts college, liberal arts Universities in Pakistan, university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was founded in 1864 and is administered by the Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian Church ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. He held an

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from

Punjab University Law College Punjab University Law College (PULC) is a public sector law school of University of the Punjab, Canal Road (Quaid e Azam) Campus, Lahore. It is the oldest law institute in Pakistan which was established in 1868, 14 years before Punjab Universi ...

, and he was the secretary general of the students' union of the university. In 1969, Iqbal joined the provincial revenue department as a

tehsildar In Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, a tehsildar, talukdar, or mamlatdar is a land revenue officer accompanied by revenue inspectors. They are in charge of obtaining taxes from a tehsil with regard to land revenue. A tehsildar is also known as a ...

. In 1975, after meeting with

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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 ...

, he resigned and joined the

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 ...

(PPP). In 1988 Iqbal was elected to the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly of Pakistan, also referred to as ''Aiwān-ē-Zairīñ'', is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate of Pakistan, Senate. As of 2023, the National Assem ...

, and served as Minister of Food, Agriculture and Cooperatives under

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto (21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. She was also the first woman elected to head a democratic governmen ...

, on her first term. He lost the elections in 1990, but was re-elected again in 1993 and served as Minister of Sports, Culture and Tourism, on Bhutto's second term, that ended in 1996. He also served as chairman of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Defence. Between 1997 and 2001 he was the chief of the Punjab PPP. In 2002 Iqbal was elected to the National Assembly again and joined the group PPP-Patriots. He was inducted to the Federal Cabinet and served as

Defence Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

during this time, he was also honoured as Deputy Prime Minister between 2002 and 2007 under Prime Ministers Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali,

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain (born 27 January 1946) is a senior Pakistani politician who previously served as 16th prime minister of Pakistan. Hussain is the party president of the PML(Q) since 2003. Hailing from the business-industrialist Chaudh ...

and

Shaukat Aziz Shaukat Aziz (born 6 March 1949) is a Pakistani-born British former banker who served as the 15th prime minister of Pakistan from 28 August 2004 to 15 November 2007. When his term as Prime Minister was over, he immediately left Pakistan and se ...

Personal life

Iqbal was married and had four children, a daughter, three sons (Rao Atif N. Sikandar, Rao Faisal Sikandar and Rao Hasan Sikandar) and a grandson (Rao hassaan). His youngest son Rao Hasan Sikander is going to continue the legacy of his father by contesting in the next elections for the coveted seat of MNA from Okara. Iqbal died after prolonged illness in Okara, on 29 September 2010, at the age of 68. He had been suffering from

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

. Later, he suffered renal failure and needed dialysis.

Legacy

Okara is known as the "City of Ministers", and is called a "Milk Lake of Pakistan". Okara is often called "Mini Lahore" by tourists. During the period of British rule there was a jungle of Okaan where the city was built, and from this the name of the city was derived. During Rao Sikandar's tenure the following were built in Okara: * Rao Sikandar Iqbal Road * Benazir Road * Okara Bypass * Cadet College, Okara * Kulsoom Hospital, Okara (currently working as Social Security Hospital) * University of Education, Okara (now moved to Renala Khurd)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iqbal, Rao Sikandar 1943 births 2010 deaths Ministers of defence of Pakistan Politicians from Quetta Pakistan People's Party politicians Politicians from Punjab, Pakistan All Pakistan Muslim League politicians Forman Christian College alumni Punjab University Law College alumni Pakistani people of Haryanvi descent