Afshan Rafiq (born 25 February 1975) is a Pakistani Norwegian politician for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. Born in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

to Pakistani immigrants, she graduated from the

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 ...

in 1999 with the

cand.mag. Candidatus magisterii (male), or candidata magisterii (female), abbreviated as cand.mag., is an academic degree currently awarded in Denmark. The degree is officially translated into English as Master of Arts and currently requires 5 years of studi ...

degree. In 2000 she enrolled in medicine studies. She became involved in the Young Conservatives as a teenager, and served as a member of Oslo city council from 1995 to 2001. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

she was elected to the

Norwegian Parliament 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 base ...

from

, as the first person of non-Western background elected to the Norwegian Parliament. Pakistan-born Athar Ali had served earlier, but as a deputy representative. Rafiq was not re-elected in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. Instead, she served in the position of deputy representative during the term 2005–2009. Rafiq resides at

Høybråten Høybråten is a residential area in the north-eastern part (Stovner bydel) of Norway's capital Oslo. Høybråten has its own church, schools and railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that t ...

, and is married to fellow politician Aamir J. Sheikh, with whom she has one daughter. Sheikh had originally gone through an

arranged marriage 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 ...

, but this was annulled in 2003, and married Rafiq one year later. Rafiq has also spoken out against the

caste system 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rafiq, Afshan 1975 births Living people Members of the Storting Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Oslo University of Oslo alumni Norwegian people of Pakistani descent 21st-century Norwegian politicians