Ijaz Ahmed Shah is a Pakistani politician, former

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

, and a former Pakistan

Inter-Services Intelligence The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant ...

(ISI) officer.Profile of Saeed Sheikh
, under 5 February 2002 He was serving as the Federal Minister for Narcotics Control, was in office since 11 December 2020. Previously, he served as the Federal Minister for interior from April 2019 to 11 December 2020 and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs from March 2019 to April 2019. He was a member of 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 ...

from August 2018 till July 2022.

Political career

Shah has served as the Home Secretary of Punjab in 2002. During his tenure, he was accused of the formation of the PML-Q and PPP-Patriots. In 2004, he was appointed as the Pakistani High Commissioner to Australia but was rejected by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs. He ran for the seat of the

from NA-118 (Nankana Sahib-II) as an independent candidate in

2013 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on Saturday 11 May 2013 to elect the members of the 14th National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies. The three major parties were the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) led by Nawaz Sharif, t ...

, but was unsuccessful. He again ran for the seat of the

from NA-118 (Nankana Sahib-II) as an independent candidate, with support of

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 ...

(PTI), in 2015 by-elections, but was again unsuccessful. He lost to Shizra Mansab Ali Khan. He was elected to the

from NA-118 (Nankana Sahib-II) as a candidate of PTI in

2018 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on Wednesday, 25 July 2018 to elect the members of 15th National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies. The three major parties Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by Imran Khan, the Pakistan Muslim ...

. He received 63,818 votes and defeated Shezra Mansab Ali of

Pakistan Muslim League (N) The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Teh ...

. In March 2019, he was made the Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs which he held till 16 April 2019. On 18 April 2019, in a cabinet reshuffle, he was sworn in as Federal Interior Minister of Pakistan, the post previously held by

Shehryar Khan Afridi Shehryar Khan Afridi (; born 12 March 1971) is a Pakistani politician who serves as Chairperson of the Parliamentary Special Committee on Kashmir, in office since 13 May 2020. He served as the Minister of State for Interior from 31 August 2018 ...

Resignation

On April 10, 2022, because of the motion of no confidence, he resigned from the National Assembly on the orders of

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 ...

. The new government did not accept the resignations of many members for fear of deteriorating the number of members. However, accepting the resignations of eleven members on July 28, 2022, one of them was Ijaz Ahmed Shah. Later, by-elections were held again on his seat, Imran Khan made a surprising move to stand on his own in all the by-seats.

Military career

Shah was a long-term close associate of President

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...

, and was Director of the

(ISI) Punjab during Musharraf's 1999 coup. Musharraf appointed Shah as

Director-General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

of Intelligence Bureau 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 ...

from 2004 to 2008. Shah's tenure as the head of Intelligence Bureau was controversial with accusations of political

victimisation Victimisation ( or victimization) is the process of being victimised or becoming a victim. The field that studies the process, rates, incidence, effects, and prevalence of victimisation is called victimology. Peer victimisation Peer victimisati ...

and for undermining the judiciary.

Alleged involvement in Benazir Bhutto's assassination plot

According to the PPP Senator Latif Khosa, days after the

2007 Karachi bombings The Karsaz bombing attack occurred on 18 October 2007 in Karachi, Pakistan; it was an attack on a motorcade carrying former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The bombing occurred two months before she was assassinated. The bombing resulted in a ...

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...

in a letter to President Musharaf written on 16 October 2007 allegedly named Ijaz Shah as one of the four persons including the then chief minister of Punjab

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi (Urdu, pa, ; born 1 November 1945) is a Pakistani politician who is currently serving as the Chief Minister of Punjab and the President of Pakistan Muslim League (Q), a conservative centrist to centre-right-nationali ...

, the then chief minister of Sindh

Arbab Ghulam Rahim Arbab Ghulam Rahim ( ur, ; born 1 January 1957) is a Pakistani politician who served as the Chief Minister of the Government of Sindh from 2004 until 2007. Early life Arbab Ghulam Rahim was born in the Diplo Tehsil of Tharparkar District. Ar ...

, and the former ISI chief

Hamid Gul Lieutenant General Hamid Gul ( ur, ‎; 20 November 1936 – 15 August 2015) was a three-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army and defence analyst. Gul was notable for serving as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligenc ...

she suspected were behind the attacks.

Osama bin Laden compound

General Ziauddin Butt, former Director General of the ISI allegedly revealed in October 2011 that according to his knowledge Ijaz Shah, had kept

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...

in an Intelligence Bureau of

safe house in

Abbottabad Abbottabad (; Urdu, Punjabi language(HINDKO dialect) آباد, translit=aibṭabād, ) is the capital city of Abbottabad District in the Hazara region of eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in Pakistan and fourth ...

but later denied making any such statement, after Shah announced filing a defamation suit against him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Ijaz Living people Pakistani spies Pakistani MNAs 2018–2023 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MNAs Federal ministers of Pakistan Punjab Regiment officers People of Inter-Services Intelligence Directors General of the Intelligence Bureau (Pakistan) Year of birth missing (living people) Imran Khan administration