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Salmaan Taseer(June 12 1944 - January 4 2011)
Pakistani businessman and politician and the former Governor of the province of Punjab. He was a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and had also served as a minister in the caretaker cabinet of Prime Minister Muhammad Mian Soomro under Pervez Musharraf. Taseer was also the chairman and CEO of the First Capital and Worldcall Group. He was appointed to the post of governor on 15 May 2008 in place of outgoing governor, Lt Gen (R) Khalid Maqbool. by former President, Pervez Musharraf at the request of the PPP establishment.
He died on January 4, 2011 in Islamabad when he was shot in the chest and on neck by his own security guard and succumbed to his wounds.
Political Career:
Taseer started his political career in his student era, as a member of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the late 1960s. He was a part of the movement for Bhutto's freedom and opposed his arrest and death sentence. He also wrote a political biography on Bhutto titled Bhutto: A political biography (1980).
In the 1988 general elections, Taseer became a member of the Punjab Assembly from Lahore. In the 1990, 1993 and 1997 general elections, he ran as an MNA but lost.
In 2007, he was appointed the interim Federal Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives.
On 15 May 2008, Taseer was designated for the office of Governor Punjab by the PPP-led coalition government.
Business career:
Taseer set up several chartered accountancy and management consultancy firms early in his career. In 1994 he established the First Capital Securities Corporation (FCSC), a full service brokerage house with equity participation by Smith Barney Inc USA and HG Asia Hong Kong.
Taseer founded the Worldcall group with a payphone network in 1995. The group has grown over the years to become a major private sector telecom operator with national and regional footprint. A majority stake in Worldcall was acquired by Omantel, Sultanate of Oman's incumbent operator, in 2008.
Taseer also owns an English news channel in Pakistan, Business Plus and the first kids channel, Wikkid Plus. He is also the publisher of the English language Daily Times.
Personal life:
Taseer was married to Aamna Taseer and the two resided in Lahore. They had six children; Maryam, Shehryar, Shahbaz, Sara, Sanam and Shehr Bano.
Taseer also has a son, Aatish Taseer (born 1980) with Indian journalist, Tavleen Singh. Married at the time, Taseer met Singh during a book promotion trip to India in the late 70s. Aatish is a freelance journalist in the UK and has recently written a book titled "Stranger to History: A Son’s Journey through Islamic Lands" on his estranged relationship with his father.
Taseer was known to be one of the trusted aides of Benazir Bhutto. He was a class fellow of Nawaz Sharif at Saint Anthony School, Lahore. He had obtained a degree in Chartered Accountancy from London.
Controversy:
In December 2010 as Punjab Governor, he departed the country without handing over charge to the speaker, this meant that the province was without a constitutional head, and it also rendered the assembly speaker ineligible to preside over the session. Leaving the province without informing his successor was in violation of the constitution and this lead to calls for his resignation. Evidence provided by ICAO on the governors' travel abroad, lead to a case being filed in court for breach of the constitution.
Death:
Taseer was shot 9 times in a gun attack on 4 January, 2011 at Kohsar Market in Islamabad, a popular shopping and cafe spot among the wealthy. His attacker was one of his Elite Police bodyguards, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, who handed himself in immediately. Qadri said he killed Taseer due to the latter's vocal opposition to the Blasphemy Law, a controversial law that punishes anyone convicted of insulting Islam, to death. The law is often misused to discriminate against non-Muslims. Taseer succumbed to his injuries in the local hospital.
Taseer started his political career in his student era, as a member of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the late 1960s. He was a part of the movement for Bhutto's freedom and opposed his arrest and death sentence. He also wrote a political biography on Bhutto titled Bhutto: A political biography (1980).
In the 1988 general elections, Taseer became a member of the Punjab Assembly from Lahore. In the 1990, 1993 and 1997 general elections, he ran as an MNA but lost.
In 2007, he was appointed the interim Federal Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives.
On 15 May 2008, Taseer was designated for the office of Governor Punjab by the PPP-led coalition government.
Business career:
Taseer set up several chartered accountancy and management consultancy firms early in his career. In 1994 he established the First Capital Securities Corporation (FCSC), a full service brokerage house with equity participation by Smith Barney Inc USA and HG Asia Hong Kong.
Taseer founded the Worldcall group with a payphone network in 1995. The group has grown over the years to become a major private sector telecom operator with national and regional footprint. A majority stake in Worldcall was acquired by Omantel, Sultanate of Oman's incumbent operator, in 2008.
Taseer also owns an English news channel in Pakistan, Business Plus and the first kids channel, Wikkid Plus. He is also the publisher of the English language Daily Times.
Personal life:
Taseer was married to Aamna Taseer and the two resided in Lahore. They had six children; Maryam, Shehryar, Shahbaz, Sara, Sanam and Shehr Bano.
Taseer also has a son, Aatish Taseer (born 1980) with Indian journalist, Tavleen Singh. Married at the time, Taseer met Singh during a book promotion trip to India in the late 70s. Aatish is a freelance journalist in the UK and has recently written a book titled "Stranger to History: A Son’s Journey through Islamic Lands" on his estranged relationship with his father.
Taseer was known to be one of the trusted aides of Benazir Bhutto. He was a class fellow of Nawaz Sharif at Saint Anthony School, Lahore. He had obtained a degree in Chartered Accountancy from London.
Controversy:
In December 2010 as Punjab Governor, he departed the country without handing over charge to the speaker, this meant that the province was without a constitutional head, and it also rendered the assembly speaker ineligible to preside over the session. Leaving the province without informing his successor was in violation of the constitution and this lead to calls for his resignation. Evidence provided by ICAO on the governors' travel abroad, lead to a case being filed in court for breach of the constitution.
Death:
Taseer was shot 9 times in a gun attack on 4 January, 2011 at Kohsar Market in Islamabad, a popular shopping and cafe spot among the wealthy. His attacker was one of his Elite Police bodyguards, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, who handed himself in immediately. Qadri said he killed Taseer due to the latter's vocal opposition to the Blasphemy Law, a controversial law that punishes anyone convicted of insulting Islam, to death. The law is often misused to discriminate against non-Muslims. Taseer succumbed to his injuries in the local hospital.
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