dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, Romanization, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower house, lower legislative house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which al ...

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI; ur, , ) is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI is one of the thre ...

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI; ur, , ) is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI is one of the thre ...

Pakistan cricket team The Pakistan national cricket team or Pak cricket team, often referred to as the Shaheens (), Green Shirts, Men in Green and Cornered Tigers is administered by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The team is a Full Member of the International ...

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Fazal-ur-Rehman and

Aitzaz Ahsan Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan ( ur, ; born 27 September 1945) is a Pakistani politician and lawyer. He served two times as the Leader of the House in the Senate of Pakistan from 1994 to 1997 and again from 2012 to 2015. He also served as the Leader o ...

, he resigned from the National Assembly and was sworn into office on 9th September 2018, succeeding

Mamnoon Hussain Mamnoon Hussain ( ur, ; 22 December 1941 – 14 July 2021) was a Pakistani politician and industrialist who served as the 12th president of Pakistan from 2013 to 2018. He was first appointed Governor of Sindh in June 1999 by President Rafiq ...

.

Personal life and education

Alvi was born on 29 August 1949 in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, Pakistan. His father, Habib-ur-Rehman Elahi Alvi, was a dentist in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

who migrated to Karachi after the establishment of Pakistan, and opened a dental clinic in

Saddar Town Saddar Town ( sd, صدر ٽائون; ur, ), lies in the central part of the city that formed much of the historic colonial core of Karachi. Saddar Town was formed in 2001 as part of The Local Government Ordinance 2001, and was subdivided into ...

. His father became politically affiliated with

Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami (JI; Urdu: , "Islamic Congress"), or Jamaat as it is simply known, is an Islamist political party which is based in Pakistan and it is the Pakistani successor to Jamaat-e-Islami, which was founded in colonial India in 1941. I ...

. According to the website of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Alvi's father was a dentist of

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

. After his father started a campaign against compulsory Bible classes, he was expelled from

Karachi Grammar School Karachi Grammar School ( ur, ) is an independent, English-medium school located in 3 different campuses across Karachi. The main and oldest campus is located in Saddar, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It is a highly selective, coeducational day school ...

. He completed his early education in Karachi, and moved to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

in 1967 for education in dentistry. Alvi received a Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree from

De'Montmorency College of Dentistry De Montmorency College of Dentistry (DCD) is located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It is situated next to the Badshahi Masjid. The college is named after former Punjab Governor Sir Geoffrey Fitzhervey de Montmorency who remained in office till sta ...

. He completed his master's degree in

prosthodontics Prosthodontics, also known as dental prosthetics or prosthetic dentistry, is the area of dentistry that focuses on dental prostheses. It is one of 12 dental specialties recognized by the American Dental Association (ADA), Royal College of Surgeo ...

from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1975. Alvi received a master's degree in

orthodontics Orthodontics is a dentistry specialty that addresses the diagnosis, prevention, management, and correction of mal-positioned teeth and jaws, and misaligned bite patterns. It may also address the modification of facial growth, known as dentofacial ...

in 1984 from the University of the Pacific in San Francisco, California. After returning to Pakistan, he started practicing dentistry and set up Alvi Dental Hospital. Alvi is married to Samina Alvi. The couple has four married children. In March 2021, he tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after having received the first dose of a vaccine, which was later confirmed to have been a vaccine from Sinopharm. In January 2022, he contracted Covid-19 again amidst the Omicron wave.

Professional career

In 1981, Alvi was Chairman of the first Pakistan International Dental Conference. In 1987, he became Chairman of the Third Pakistan International Dental Conference. He became Patron of the Fifth Pakistan International Dental Conference. In 1997, Alvi became a Diplomate of the

American Board of Orthodontics American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) is a non-profit professional association for orthodontists founded in 1929. History The organization was first established as ''the American Board of Orthodontia'' in 1929 and later changed its name to the A ...

. He prepared the constitution of the Pakistan Dental Association and went on to become its president. He also served as Chairman of the 28th Asia Pacific Dental Congress. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Orthodontics of the

College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan The College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan ( ur, , abbreviated as CPSP) is a regulatory college established in 1962 by a special act of the Parliament of Pakistan to oversee the postgraduate medical education and professional development. ...

. In 2006, he was elected as the President of Asia Pacific Dental Federation. The next year, he was elected as a Councillor of the

FDI World Dental Federation FDI World Dental Federation, often shortened to FDI (french: Fédération Dentaire Internationale), is the world's leading organization representing the dental profession. It serves as the principal representative body for over one million dent ...

.

Political career

Alvi meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev Alvi began his political career as a polling agent, and joined a religious party. While studying at

De'Montmorency College of Dentistry De Montmorency College of Dentistry (DCD) is located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It is situated next to the Badshahi Masjid. The college is named after former Punjab Governor Sir Geoffrey Fitzhervey de Montmorency who remained in office till sta ...

, he became an active member of the student unions. He became politically affiliated with

Islami Jamiat Talaba Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba ( ur, ) IJT is the largest student organisation in the world. It was founded by 25 students on 23 December 1947 at Lahore, Pakistan. Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba is working in Pakistan to eliminate the non-Islamic elements an ...

, a student wing of

Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami (JI; Urdu: , "Islamic Congress"), or Jamaat as it is simply known, is an Islamist political party which is based in Pakistan and it is the Pakistani successor to Jamaat-e-Islami, which was founded in colonial India in 1941. I ...

(JI) and went on to become president of the student union. During his early days, he was a critic of the

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

regime and was shot twice while participating in a protest in 1969 at

The Mall, Lahore Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam ( ur, ), formerly known as The Mall or Mall Road ( ur, , ''Sarak-e-Mall''), is a major road in Lahore, Pakistan. The road was laid out during the British Raj on a route leading to the Governor's House, lined on bot ...

; a bullet still remains lodged in his body. He became politically active after

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourt ...

announced the 1977 Pakistani general election. He ran for a seat on the Provincial Assembly of Sindh as a candidate of the JI from a constituency in Karachi in 1979 but was unsuccessful. In 1988, he quit JI and left politics. According to Alvi, he left the party because he had become disillusioned with their narrow focus on politics and had "always felt honest leadership is the real solution to Pakistan’s problems". After getting inspired by

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

, he joined

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI; ur, , ) is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI is one of the thre ...

in 1996 and became one of the founding members of the party. He participated in preparing the party constitution of PTI. He remained a member of the PTI central executive council for a year before becoming president of PTI's Sindh chapter in 1997. Alvi ran for the seat of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh as a candidate of PTI from Constituency PS-89 (Karachi South-V) in the 1997 Pakistani general election, but was unsuccessful. He came in third receiving 2,200 votes and lost the seat to Saleem Zia. In 2001, he became the vice president of PTI. He ran for the seat of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh as a candidate of PTI from Constituency PS-90 (Karachi-II) in the 2002 Pakistani general election, but was unsuccessful. He came in at sixth place securing 1,276 votes and lost the seat to Umer Sadiq, a candidate of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). In 2006, he became secretary general of PTI, a position he served in until 2013. He was elected to the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, Romanization, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower house, lower legislative house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which al ...

as a candidate of PTI from Constituency NA-250 (Karachi-XII) in the 2013 Pakistani general election. He received 77,659 votes and defeated

Khushbakht Shujaat Khushbakht Shujaat ( ur, ; born 1 November 1948) is a Pakistani politician who has been a member of the Senate of Pakistan since March 2015. Previously, she had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013. Early life ...

. Upon his successful election, he became the only PTI member to win a National Assembly seat from Sindh in the 2013 general elections. In 2016, he was made president of the PTI Sindh chapter. He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PTI from Constituency

NA-247 (Karachi South-II) NA-241 (Karachi South-II) () is a constituency for the National Assembly of Pakistan that encompasses much of South Karachi. Area The constituency is composed of the South Karachi localities of Aram Bagh, Civil Line, Clifton, Defence, Gizri, ...

in the 2018 Pakistani general election. He received 91,020 votes and defeated Syed Zaman Ali Jaffery, a candidate of

Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (; TLP) is a far-right Islamic extremist political party in Pakistan. The party was founded by Khadim Hussain Rizvi in August 2015. It became the fifth largest party at the 2018 Pakistani general election, but fa ...

. On 18 August 2018, he was nominated by PTI as its candidate for the office of

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.13th President of Pakistan in the 2018 Pakistani presidential election. He received 352 electoral votes and defeated Fazal-ur-Rehman and

Aitzaz Ahsan Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan ( ur, ; born 27 September 1945) is a Pakistani politician and lawyer. He served two times as the Leader of the House in the Senate of Pakistan from 1994 to 1997 and again from 2012 to 2015. He also served as the Leader o ...

who secured 184 and 124 votes, respectively. Upon getting elected as the President, Alvi thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan, and the government coalition for their support. He is the third

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

. On 5 September 2018, he relinquished his National Assembly seat. On 9 September, he replaced

Mamnoon Hussain Mamnoon Hussain ( ur, ; 22 December 1941 – 14 July 2021) was a Pakistani politician and industrialist who served as the 12th president of Pakistan from 2013 to 2018. He was first appointed Governor of Sindh in June 1999 by President Rafiq ...

and was sworn in as 13th President of Pakistan. On 17 September, he addressed the National Assembly for the first time in his capacity as president. On 3 April 2022, he dissolved the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, Romanization, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower house, lower legislative house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which al ...

on the advice of

Prime Minister Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

, in order to prevent the moving of the scheduled no-confidence motion that intended to remove Khan from the office of PM. The dissolution was appealed to the

Supreme Court of Pakistan The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( ur, ; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Established in accordance to thePart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate a ...

, which declared the move as unconstitutional and restored the National Assembly on 7 April, which then proceeded to carry out the no-confidence motion on the night of 9 April. The motion was successful after 174 MNAs voted in its favour (172 were needed), thus ending Imran Khan's term as Prime Minister.

Presidential initiatives

In 2018, he started the Presidential Initiative for Artificial Intelligence and Computing (PIAIC). The privately funded not-for-profit educational initiative is launched to help promote education, research and business opportunities in Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and

Cloud Native computing Cloud native computing is an approach in software development that utilizes cloud computing to "build and run scalable applications in modern, dynamic environments such as public, private, and hybrid clouds". These technologies such as containers, ...

and

Internet of Things The Internet of things (IoT) describes physical objects (or groups of such objects) with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other comm ...

. He believes that the world is on the verge of the

Fourth Industrial Revolution The Fourth Industrial Revolution, 4IR, or Industry 4.0, conceptualizes rapid change to technology, industries, and societal patterns and processes in the 21st century due to increasing interconnectivity and smart automation. The term has bee ...

(4IR) that would change the overall outlook of the industrial working. The initiative is being run with the help of public-private partnerships with non-profit and for-profit organizations. The program has an initial target to enroll as many as 100,000 students within a year. The program has been launched in the city of

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

where as many as 12,000 students are enrolled in the 4 disciplines being offered and registration is underway to offer it in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

, and

Faisalabad Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur ( Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pak ...

. The program is expected to expand to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

,

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

, and

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

in the near future.

Women's Inclusion in Technology

One of the most important goals of the PIAIC was to provide a conduit for women to seek and find quality and affordable high tech training in most cities of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. This has resulted in the creation of "Women's Inclusion in Technology", a women's empowerment division in the PIAIC. The division is led by Hira Khan, who is also the COO of Panacloud (Pvt.), Ltd. and a well-seasoned IT trainer and software engineer. She has championed

women's empowerment Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in several ways, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, and training.Kabeer, Naila ...

and especially their

economic empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

in Pakistan.

First visit to a Federal Ministry

Pakistani President Arif Alvi visits Maritime Ministry, flanked by Minister Ali Zaidi and Federal Secretary Rizwan Ahmed

Alvi's first ever visit to a federal ministry as president was in June 2020 when he visited the headquarters of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs. Alvi launched the Ministry's official website on the occasion of

World Oceans Day World Oceans Day is an international day that takes place annually on 8 June. The concept was originally proposed in 1992 by Canada's International Centre for Ocean Development (ICOD) and the Ocean Institute of Canada (OIC) at the Earth Summit ...

and was briefed by Maritime Minister

Ali Haider Zaidi Syed Ali Haider Zaidi ( ur, ) is a Pakistani politician who served as the Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs from 11 September 2018 to 10 April 2022. He is the President of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Sindh chapter. He has been previously al ...

and Federal Secretary Rizwan Ahmed about the ministry's role and achievements.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvi, Arif 1949 births Living people Pakistani Muslims Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan politicians Muhajir people Hashemite people Alvis Orthodontists Pakistani expatriates in the United States Pakistani dentists Pakistani MNAs 2013–2018 Pakistani people of Arab descent Pakistani MNAs 2018–2023 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MNAs Politicians from Karachi Presidents of Pakistan University of Michigan School of Dentistry alumni University of the Pacific (United States) alumni