Muhammad Aslam Bhutani (also sometimes written ''Mohammad Aslam Bhutiani'') (born October 2, 1960) is 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 ...

. He was born in

Dureji Dureji ( ur, ) is a town and union council of Hub District in the Balochistan province of Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fift ...

a small village of

Lasbela District Lasbela District (Urdu and bal, , Sindhi Lasi: لسبيلو) is a coastal district of Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is also called Sassi-Punnu Garh () among localites. History Alexander the Great passed through Lasbela on his way ...

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

a province of Pakistan. He is the younger brother of Muhammad Saleh Bootani (caretaker

Chief Minister of Balochistan The Chief Minister of Balochistan ( ur, وزیر اعلیٰ بلوچستان) is the head of government of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. The chief minister leads the legislative branch of the provincial government, and is elected by the ...

). He stepped into politics in 2002.

Early life

Bootani received his early education from his native village, then moved to

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

for higher education. In Hyderabad, he passed his

Secondary School Certificate The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) or Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC), Matriculation examination, is a public examination in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan conducted by educational boards for the successful completion of the seco ...

. He did his graduation from the

Karachi University The University of Karachi ( sd, ; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh (whi ...

. Before joining politics he served as a Police chief,

Anti-Narcotics Force The Anti-Narcotics Force ( ur, , reporting name: ''ANF'') is a federal executive bureau of the Government of Pakistan, tasked with combating the narcotics smuggling and use within Pakistan. ANF works under the umbrella of Pakistan Army and Mi ...

and

Federal Investigation Agency The Federal Investigation Agency ( ur, ; reporting name: FIA) is a border control, criminal investigation, counter-intelligence and security agency under the control of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan, tasked with investigative jurisdictio ...

. On 21 May 2020, Bootani challenged the Balochistan government's decision to nominate filmmaker

Javed Jabbar Javed Jabbar (Urdu: جاوید جبار ) is a Pakistani writer and politician.Balochistan High Court The Balochistan High Court ( ur, ) is the highest judicial institution of Balochistan, Pakistan. The court is formally known as the High Court of Balochistan. It is situated in the provincial capital, Quetta. Mir Ali Dost Bugti was the first ...

. He said he was opposed to Mr. Jabbar's appointment because neither he belonged to Balochistan nor had a background in economics.

Political career

Bhootani served as the

Deputy Speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

of the

Provincial Assembly of Balochistan The Provincial Assembly of Balochistan is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Balochistan, and is located in Quetta, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of the Constitution of P ...

for five years. He also served as the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan from 8 April 2008 to 25 December 2012. In the

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 won NA-272 (Lasbela-cum-Gwadar) defeating the leaders of two political parties:

Jam Kamal Khan Jam Mir Kamal Khan Alyani (; born 1 January 1970) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 16th Chief Minister of Balochistan, between August 2018 and October 2021. He has been a member of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan since August 2 ...

of the

Balochistan Awami Party The Balochistan Awami Party ( ur, , lit=Balochistan People's Party) is a political party based in the Balochistan province of Pakistan founded in 2018 by political dissidents of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) in ...

and

Akhtar Mengal Akhtar Mengal (born 6 October 1962) is a politician from Balochistan who is the chairman of Balochistan National Party (Mengal). He previously served as the Chief Minister of Balochistan between 1997 and 1998 and later he served as a member of t ...

of the Balochistan National Party. He won MNA election in 2018 election for seat NA-272 after obtaining 70,000 votes which was the highest number of votes in Balochistan. Bhootani is known for his criticism of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as he has insisted that the people of Gwadar, his electoral constituency do not currently benefit from the fruits of the multi-billion project.

References

1960 births Living people Baloch people People from Lasbela District University of Karachi alumni Pakistani MNAs 2018–2023 {{Pakistan-MNA-stub