Syed Muhammad Zafar (born 6th of December 1930) is one of the more prominent Pakistani
human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...
s, a noted lawyer (
Senior Advocate Supreme Court
An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. Howeve ...
), a politician and a former member of the
Senate of Pakistan
Senate of Pakistan or Aiwān-e-Bālā Pākistān ( ur, , , literally "Pakistan upper house"), is the upper legislative chamber of the bicameral legislature of Pakistan, and together with the National Assembly makes up the Parliament of Pakista ...
. For some time, he was affiliated with the
Pakistan Muslim League (Q)
The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid e Azam Group) ur, ; ''Pākistān Muslim Līg (Qāf)'', Acronyms: PML(Q), PML-Q, PMLQ, "Q League") is a Conservative nationalist political party in Pakistan. As of the 2018 parliamentary election, it has a re ...
Zafar began his career as a lawyer in the 1950s. He played an important role during the 1958 imposition of martial law in Pakistan and again in forcing amendments to
Constitution of Pakistan of 1962
The Constitution of 1962 was the fundamental law of Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 8 June 1962 until martial law was declared in 25 March 1969. It was abrogated on 25 March 1969 by President Yahya Khan.
Origins
Pakistan became an independent ...
, which at first did not have sufficient protections for basic human rights. After serving as a judge of the high court and as Pakistan's Minister for Law and Justice from 1965 to 1969, Zafar retired from the government in 1968 and started his own law practice.
Zafar and a few of his contemporaries founded the Human Rights Society of Pakistan in 1976.
He was awarded an honorary PhD degree in law at the
University of the Punjab
The University of the Punjab (Urdu, pnb, ), also referred to as Punjab University, is a public, research, coeducational higher education institution located in Lahore, Pakistan. Punjab University is the oldest public university in Pakistan. ...
's 124th convocation. He retired from active law practice in 2014.
Official posts
*Federal
Minister for Law and Justice (Pakistan)
The Law Minister of Pakistan heads the Ministry of Law and Justice. They serves in the cabinet of the Prime Minister.
List of ministers
* Jogendra Nath Mandal (1947–1951)
*Pirzada Abdus Sattar Abdur Rahman (1951–1953)
*A.K. Brohi (1953� ...
(1965–69)
*President High Court Bar Association, Lahore (1975)
*President, Pakistan's Supreme Court Bar Association (1979)
*Chairman, Human Right Society of Pakistan
*Chairman, Cultural Association of Pakistan
*Chancellor of
Rangoon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military governme ...
, Burma, where his father worked in the construction business. His family hailed from the town of
Shakargarh
Shakargarh ( ur, ), the capital of Shakargarh Tehsil, is a city in the north-eastern part of Narowal District in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. It borders Jammu, India to the north and Sialkot to the west Its literacy rate i ...
in Punjab. Following the
Japanese occupation of Burma
The Japanese occupation of Burma was the period between 1942 and 1945 during World War II, when Burma was occupied by the Empire of Japan. The Japanese had assisted formation of the Burma Independence Army, and trained the Thirty Comrades, w ...
, his family returned to their native village in 1944.
Bibliography
* ''Through the Crisis'' (1971)
* ''Who is Dictator?'' (Urdu: ''Dictator kaun?'')
* ''People, Parliament and Islam'' (Urdu: ''Awam, parliament and Islam'')
* ''Hajj – A Journey in Obedience''
* ''Views & Reviews'' (Urdu: ''Tazkaray-Jaizay'')
* ''Understanding Statutes'' (1997)
* ''My Popular Law Cases'' (Urdu: ''Mere Mashoor Mukkadamay'') (میرے مشہور مقدمے)
* ''Pakistan Benaam Corruption'' (Urdu translation: ''Awam KI Adalat Mein'')
* ''Politics in the Court of Law'' (Urdu: ''Adalat Mein Siyasat'')
* ''Dialogues on the Political Chess Board''
* ''Be a Competent Lawyer'' (2014)