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Abid Qayyum Raja (born 5 November 1975) is a Norwegian lawyer and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician who served as Minister of Culture from 2020 to 2021.NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

>; He was elected to the

Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

as representative for

Akershus Akershus () is a traditional region and current electoral district in Norway, with Oslo as its main city and traditional capital. It is named after the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. From the middle ages to 1919, Akershus was a fief and main county ...

in 2013 where he served as second deputy chair of the

Standing Committee on Transport and Communications The Standing Committee on Transport and Communications ( no, Transport- og kommunikasjonskomiteen) is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for policies relating to transport, postal services, telecommunications, electr ...

and also is a member of the

Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs The Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs ( no, Kontroll- og konstitusjonskomiteen) is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It holds a supervisory role in relation to the proceedings of the parliament and public se ...

. In October 2017, Raja was elected as the vice-president of the

, the second time in Norway's history that a Muslim has been elected to that office.

Early life

Born in Oslo into a family of Pakistani descent, he was raised in the

St. Hanshaugen St. Hanshaugen (Norwegian for St. John's Hill) is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. Area It has a triangular shape, with its northern border just north of the buildings of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and Ullevål University Hos ...

neighborhood in Oslo. His father Abdul Qayyum Raja (1937– ) was a factory worker who worked at the

Christiania Spigerverk Christiania Spigerverk is a steel company which was founded in Oslo in 1853 and developed into one of the largest industrial companies in Norway. In 1972 Christiania Spigerverk combined with Elkem, to become Elkem Spigerverket. It was sold to ...

steel plant in

Nydalen Nydalen is a neighbourhood in the Nordre Aker borough in northern Oslo, Norway. History In the late 19th century, the banks of the Akerselva River were dotted with various industrial buildings, Nydalen included. However, a transformation soon ...

, while his mother Akthar Nasim (1949–2021) was a homemaker. Raja describes his parents as someone who "used violence as a part of the parenting, violence was relatively common in my community". In 1992, at age 15 he was taken away from home due to the ongoing violence in the household. He was subsequently placed in a

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by ...

for recovering drug-addicts, which he later would describe as a "hellish dump". After being relocated to a nearby orphanage, he dropped out of high school. After six months at the orphanage, he was allowed to move back home, after which his parents sent him to Pakistan. Upon his return to Norway, he re-enrolled in high-school and according to him "had his mind set on becoming a lawyer" after seeing

Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...

in the film

JFK John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

Education

After graduating from

Foss Upper Secondary School Foss Upper Secondary School is an upper secondary school in Oslo, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and nor ...

, he enrolled at

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

, and graduated with a degree in Human Rights and Behavioural Sciences in Law. Raja was in 2003 the first non-ethnic Norwegian to receive the

Norway Scholarship The Norway Scholarship is a scholarship to the University of Oxford that is awarded in Norway. Norway Scholars receive funding for one or two years of study and research at Oxford University, and the scholar always becomes a member of Wadham C ...

that have been rewarded since 1920 a
University of Oxford

Wadham College Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

and there he studied for the MSc degree in Psychology. He holds also an undergraduate degree in Criminology and Master of Law degree

Cand.jur. Candidate of Law (Latin: ''candidatus/candidata juris/iuris'') is both a graduate law degree awarded to law students in the Nordic region as well as an academic status designation for advanced Law School students in German-speaking countries. ...

degree from

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

cum laude.

Career

Lawyer

He has worked as a criminal defence lawyer for four years and been civil case litigator for two. During his years as criminal defense lawyer he was appointed by the court to be lead defence lawyer on several murder-cases, in and abroad of the country, and he also had the lead defense on several largest drug cases in Norwegian history. While working as a lawyer, Raja also took advantage of the position a famous lawyer gets by advocating civil rights for all, defending poor peoples rights and helping ethnic minorities fight injustice.

Diplomat

In 2008, Raja was appointed by the Norwegian Government, King in Council, to be office bearer as Board Leader of Norwegian Immigration Appeals Board
official site
, equivalent to a judge in a refugee court. After this he also served as Police Prosecutor at the National Police Immigration Service, and was later posted as a diplomat at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, India.

Parliament

A member of the

Norwegian Liberal Party The Liberal Party ( no, Venstre, lit=Left, V; se, Gurutbellodat) is a centrist political party in Norway. It was founded in 1884 and it is the oldest political party in Norway. It is positioned in the centre on the political spectrum, and it is ...

, he was at the end of 2012 nominated as the top candidate for Akershus Venstre in the

2013 Norwegian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 8 and 9 September 2013 to elect all 169 members of the unicameral Storting. The centre-right coalition obtained 96 seats, while the incumbent red–green coalition government obtained 72 seats and ...

. He is thus the first person in Norwegian politics with minority background to be nominated at top of a ballot-list for National parliament election. He was elected to the Storting in September 2013 for a four-year term. In June 2016, he was re-nominated by the Akershus Liberal Party as their top-candidate for the general election that were held in September 2017.

Minister

Following the Progress Party's withdrawal from government in January 2020, Raja was appointed Minister of Culture and Sports, succeeding his party leader

Trine Skei Grande Trine Skei Grande (born 2 October 1969) is a Norwegian politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party of Norway from 2010 to 2020. She also served as Minister of Education from January to March 2020,; and as Minister of Culture and Gend ...

, who had been appointed Minister of Education. One of his first major cases as minister, was to deal with restrictions regarding the spread of COVID-19 in the country regarding sports. Measures that where applied, were that football and other sports with audiences, should not have fully packed tribunes and that players should keep distance while playing. By May, the government lifted restrictions and allowed children's football to be in close contact while playing, effective 15 June. The month after, he expressed shock after learning that the NIF had lacked to make reports and work more effectively against racism. He demanded that they'd make a report on racism. The NIF expressed appreciation for Raja's initiative and that they will work constructively together to fight racism in sports. In July, the government allowed for foreign film production to take place in Norway, with Raja himself approving that

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...

and the crew of '' Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One'' being allowed to shoot in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...

in August. In mid-August, he announced his final decision to run for the

leadership to succeed outgoing

, becoming the second Liberal politician to announce their intention to seek the leadership after Sveinung Rotevatn. Raja was however open to becoming deputy leader if the party wished for it. On 23 August, he was designated deputy leader of the party, with Rotevatn as first deputy and Melby as party leader, unanimously by the party's election committee. At the party conference in September, he was elected second deputy leader, with Melby as leader and Rotevatn as first deputy, unopposed. On 30 September, the government announced that contact training for broad sports would be allowed from 12 October, and at the same time would allow for a larger field of audiences to attend matches. Raja also stated that every municipality should evaluate themselves whether or not it's safe to allow contact training. The government took a u-turn after it had not included Sami culture and museums in their COVID-19 budget support package. Raja expressed in November that there was no doubt that the pandemic had affected the Sami culture life equally. He added that the government had put forward 1,2 million

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, of which these ...

in support of Sami museums, and proposed 400,000 NOK to Sami stage art. Raja condemned harassment against

Sami people Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...

in December, after a Sami woman was told by two elderly women on a bus in

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

to shut up speaking Sami. He stated that he and the government stood behind the Sami people, and expressed it was important for such events to see the light of day. In February 2021, he faced controversy when it was revealed that 68,6 million

of the incentive pot was given to production of ''Mission: Impossible 8''. Producer Synnøve Hørsdal said that “Norway shouldn't waste 70 million NOK so that Raja can get a new selfie with omCruise”. She also expressed that the budget should have been spent on Norwegian productions rather than foreign ones during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Raja defended the spending, stating that it was the ''Mission: Impossible'' production's own decision to apply for filming in the country, and the fact that they were allowed, was decided by the NFI and not him. A “summer group” set up by Raja consisting of event hosts and professionals concluded in March 2021 that summer events and festivals could return to normal by summer. Raja expressed gratitude for the group’s findings and encouraged them to continue their for as long as necessary, and sympathised that people wants to return to a normal summer, but that many factors are at play. The summer group themselves further expressed that necessary restrictions would still be necessary to further open up for as many as possible. They also proposed quick testing at festival sights and digital immune passports for people to use to prove they have been vaccinated or tested. Following a controversial tweet by former Swedish prime minister

Carl Bildt Nils Daniel Carl Bildt (born 15 July 1949) is a Swedish politician and diplomat who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994. He was the leader of the Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999. Bildt served as Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs ...

commemorating the events of the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

, Raja stated "9 April was one of the saddest and darkest days in Norwegian history. I was not just shocked and disappointed, but also a little bit hurt, when I saw the tweet". He further stated "I had hoped that our closest neighbour was more sympathetic to how this day is looked back on by Norwegians and Norwegian jews. And I hope Bildt will realize how he with his tweet hurt many in Norway. It is allowed to regret, and withdraw his tweet". He was supported by

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

member of parliament

Lene Westgaard-Halle Lene Camilla Westgaard-Halle (born 4 July 1979, Oslo) is a Norwegian political scientist from Drammen, and politician for the Conservative Party. Early life and education Westgaard-Halle grew up on Åskollen in Drammen. She was an active alpin ...

, who stated that Sweden "let Hitler invade Norway". Raja announced in June 2021, the governments intention to make “Norway the first country to be free of racism”. He further stated that it would be possible during his lifetime through self-knowledge, action plans and more funds. The proposal was criticised by the Red Party and Labour Party, the former calling it a lack of mercy three months before the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

. The latter stated that the government had done too little in regards to racism despite their promises to do so. Raja’s proposal did however receive full support from

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

Norway, whose director called it an “ambitious goal” and important. Raja attended the film festival in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

in July 2021 for the film '' The Worst Person in the World'' directed by

Joachim Trier Joachim Trier () (born 1 March 1974) is a Danish-born Norwegian film director, best known for ''Oslo, August 31st'' (2011), ''Louder Than Bombs'' (2015), ''Thelma'' (2017), and '' The Worst Person in the World'' (2021). For the latter film, he ...

. It was reported that he had to go to a dentist after expressing pain in a tooth, and he also fainted at a pharmacy when picking up antibiotics. After the tenth anniversary of the 22 July attacks, Raja criticised Progress Party leader

Sylvi Listhaug Sylvi Listhaug (born 25 December 1977) is a Norwegian politician serving as the leader of the Progress Party since 2021. She previously served as Minister for the Elderly and Public Health of Norway under Prime Minister Erna Solberg from May to ...

for her support of former Oslo mayor Fabian Stang's

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

post where he criticised Labour Party leader

Jonas Gahr Støre Jonas Gahr Støre (; born 25 August 1960) is a Norwegian politician who has served as the prime minister of Norway since 2021 and has been Leader of the Labour Party since 2014. He served under Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as Minister of For ...

, and stated that he had made 22 July party politics. Raja expressed his support for the Workers' Youth League's uproar against the ring wing extremism behind the attacks. He further stated that the Labour Party or Workers' Youth League have driven party politics using the attack as an argument, but rather the contrary and that they have been careful when using it. After

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

revealed that photos of female athletes had been circulated in a group on

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...

under sexual purposes in August 2021, Raja told NRK that “it is disgraceful that our female athletes have been sexualised and abused in this way”. He also added that the discovery makes it clear why athletes should chose their own clothing. He also said he was going to reach out to his other Nordic counterparts to set out a strong front in support of female athletes, in the fight against the leadership of the

International Handball Federation The International Handball Federation (IHF) is the administrative and controlling body for handball and beach handball. IHF is responsible for the organisation of handball's major international tournaments, notably the IHF World Men's Handball C ...

. At the end of August, Raja issued a congratulations video to 15-year-old Aleksandra Javorac-Bore from

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

for receiving the Homofryd prize, after she told ''

Stavanger Aftenblad ''Stavanger Aftenblad'' () (lit: ''Stavanger Evening Paper'') or simply ''Aftenbladet'' is a daily newspaper based in Stavanger, Norway, and owned by Schibsted Media Group. Norwegian owners held 42 percent of the shares in Schibsted at the end ...

'' back in April about her experiences of bullying and harassment due to her sexual orientation. Raja expressed he felt touched by her story and expressed that she had his and the Norwegian people’s support. On 9 September 2021, Raja announced that the aid scheme for the cultural sector would be expanded to last until at least the end of the year. On 24 September, Raja proposed a ban against foreign online game companies, notably

Unibet Unibet provides a platform for sports betting, online casino, bingo and online poker to over 11 million customers in over 100 countries. Unibet is a part of Kindred Group–an online gambling operator which consists of 11 brands along with Maria Ca ...

Betsson Betsson AB is a Swedish company that offers a number of online gambling products, such as casino, poker, bingo, sports betting and scratch cards through more than 20 online gaming brands including Betsson, Betsafe and NordicBet. Betsson AB is liste ...

and ComeOn. Raja mentioned

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

as examples, who also put in a similar ban. His proposal received mixed reception, with the Progress Party’s

Himanshu Gulati Himanshu Gulati (born 16 June 1988) is a Norwegian politician representing the Progress Party. Gulati was the chairperson of the Progress Party's Youth from 2012 to 2014. He served as State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice and Public Secur ...

who called it “censorship, abuse of power and an attack on the free Internet reminiscent of authoritarian dictatorships”. Several representatives from the mentioned companies either expressed they were following Norwegian law and didn’t make profit as Raja accused them of. He did however receive praise from

Norsk Tipping Norsk Tipping is a Norwegian gambling company headquartered in Hamar, Norway. Founded in 1948, Norsk Tipping is owned by the Norwegian government and administered by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture. The company offers a wide range of lottery ...

, who saw the proposal as an extension of the government’s already proposed new gambling law. On 30 September, Raja and his Nordic counterparts issued a joint letter to the

calling for the rules to be changed for women’s clothing. Raja personally expressed that he hoped the letter would make time for a change against what he described as discrimination and old fashioned. The same day he opened the newly constructed Sola Arena in

Sola Sola is a municipality and a Seaside resort in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Solakrossen. Other villages include Tananger, Hålandsm ...

municipality.

Other

Raja participated in the second season of

Maskorama ''Maskorama'' is a Norwegian reality singing competition television series based on the South Korean television series ''King of Mask Singer''. The first season premiered on Saturday, 7 November 2020 and concluded on Saturday, 12 December 2020. T ...

, the Norwegian equivalent of

Masked Singer ''Masked Singer'' is an international music reality game show franchise. It originated from the South Korean program '' The King of Mask Singer'', developed by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation. Format The format features the celebrities who per ...

, disguised as the Nisse.

Advocacy and positions in public debate

Raja has been a well known person in the media since his days as student. From variety of position, spokesman for the Norwegian-Pakistani students, spokesman for the largest mosque in Norway
World Islamic Mission
positioned as famous lawyer and columnist at ''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

'' and ''

Morgenbladet ''Morgenbladet'' is a Norwegian weekly, newspaper, covering politics, culture and science. History ''Morgenbladet'' was founded in 1819 by the book printer Niels Wulfsberg. The paper is the country's first daily newspaper; however, Adresseavi ...

'', he has been an eager debater in the Norwegian society. In the years 2009-2011 he organized a series of dialogue meetings at th
House of Literature
with controversial topics, such as why there is hate among Muslims, Jews and homosexuals. In these debates the leaders of Norway from all position participated; ranging from at that time Norwegian Secretary of State

, the chief of PST, chief editors of largest Medias, even the Norwegian Royal Crown Prince. For this effort Raja was also rewarded the highes
Freedom of Speech award
Raja has been a lifelong opponent of

spanking Spanking is a form of corporal punishment involving the act of striking, with either the palm of the hand or an implement, the buttocks of a person to cause physical pain. The term spanking broadly encompasses the use of either the hand or im ...

and corporal punishment of children. This stems from his experiences as a child growing up in Norway, where he was subjected to severe cane-whipping by the local Koranic teacher at the mosque as well as corporal punishment by his Pakistani parents and as a result contacted child protective services on his own, who took him into protective care for six months. In response to revelations about child abuse in a Mosque, he called for Koranic teachers which are found to have beaten children to immediately leave Norway, stating that "they are not welcome". After a memorial service for the victims of the World Trade Center attack in 2001 (at the American Church, Frogner, Oslo), he said it is "important that moderate Muslims ... share the sorrow and distance ourselves from extremist violence and acts of terror". He has voiced opposition to forced marriages as well as marriages based on the

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

system within the south-Asian community in Norway. Also an outspoken opponent of

arranged marriages Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures a professional matchmaker may be us ...

, of which he said in 2013; "it is essential to break up the marriage pattern in the Norwegian-Pakistani community, so that arranged marriages becomes uncommon". Raja founded the Norwegian think tan
www.Minotenk.no
and has as member of Parliament been both founding member of and member of the steering committee of

International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief The International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPPFoRB) is a network of parliamentarians from around the world committed to combating religious persecution and advancing freedom of religion or belief, as defined by ...

br>www.IPPFORB.COM

Personal life

Raja is married to psychologist Nadia Ansar. They first met while he was studying law, and she was studying psychology at the University of Oslo. They currently reside in the

Ekeberg Ekeberg is a neighborhood in the city of Oslo, Norway. The Norway Cup soccer tournament takes place at Ekebergsletta every summer. "Sletta" means "the plain". The painting "The Scream" by Edvard Munch is painted from Utsikten ("the view"), a p ...

district of Oslo, along with their three children, twins Maya and Sara, and son Adam.

Awards

In 2010, Raja was awarded the

Fritt Ord Award Fritt Ord Award consists of two prizes awarded by the Fritt Ord Foundation (''Stiftelsen Fritt Ord''). Two prizes are awarded in support of freedom of speech and freedom of expression; the Fritt Ord Award ( no, Fritt Ords pris) and the Fritt O ...

for freedom of speech. On 15 November 2017 he was named the 2018 recipient of the

International Religious Liberty Association The International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) is a non-sectarian and non-political organization promoting religious freedom. It was originally organized by the Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in 1893 to campaign for religious free ...

's International Award for Outstanding Leadership in Religious Freedom Advocacy.

Bibliography

Raja has written three books. Spokesman is mainly about integrations issues in Norway, while Dialog is about common struggle Europe faces regarding radicalization and extremism. My Fault is about Raja’s childhood and upbringing, and the challenges he faced in his life. * ''Talsmann'' ( en, Spokesman), Aschehoug forlag. (2008) * ''Dialog - om vold undertrykkelse og ekstremisme'' ( en, Dialogue on violence, oppression and extremism), Cappelen Damm. (2010) * ''Min skyld - en historie om frigjørelse'' ( en, My fault, a story about liberation), Cappelen Damm. (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raja, Abid 1975 births Living people Norwegian Muslims Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Akershus politicians Norwegian people of Pakistani descent Diplomats from Oslo Norwegian columnists Deputy members of the Storting 21st-century Norwegian politicians Ministers of Culture of Norway