Rao Sikandar Iqbal ( ur, ), c. 1943 – 29 September 2010) was the Defence Minister of Pakistan from 2002 to 2007.

Biography

Born in 1943, Iqbal took his primary education in

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 ...

, after which he joined the

Forman Christian College Forman Christian College is an private liberal arts university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was founded in 1864 and is administered by the Presbyterian Church. The university follows an American-style curriculum. Founded in 1864 by American ...

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. ...

. He held an

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from

Punjab University Law College Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, and he was the secretary general of the students' union of the university . In 1969, Iqbal joined the provincial revenue department as a

tehsildar In India and Pakistan, a Tehsildar or Mamlatdar is a tax officer accompanied by revenue inspectors. They are in charge of obtaining taxes from a tehsil with regard to land revenue. A tehsildar is also known as an executive magistrate of the relev ...

. In 1975, after meeting with

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

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 fourth ...

, he resigned and joined the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...

(PPP). In 1988 Iqbal 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 ...

, and served as Minister of Food, Agriculture and Cooperatives under

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 ...

, on her first term. He lost the elections in 1990, but was re-elected again in 1993 and served as Minister of Sports, Culture and Tourism, on Bhutto's second term, that ended in 1996. He also served as chairman of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Defence. Between 1997 and 2001 he was the chief of the Punjab PPP. In 2002 Iqbal was elected to the National Assembly again and joined the group PPP-Patriots. He was inducted to the Federal Cabinet and served as

Defence Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

during this time, he was also honoured as Deputy Prime Minister between 2002 and 2007 under Prime Ministers Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali,

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain ( pa, ; ur, ; (born 27 January 1940) is a senior Pakistani politician from a Punjabi Jat family of Gujrat who previously served as 16th prime minister of Pakistan. Hussain is the party president of the Pakistan ...

and

Shaukat Aziz Shaukat Aziz ( ur, ; born 6 March 1949) is a Pakistani former banker and financier who served as 17th prime minister of Pakistan from 28 August 2004 to 15 November 2007, as well as the finance minister of Pakistan from 6 November 1999 to 15 ...

Personal life

Iqbal was married and had four children, a daughter, three sons (Rao Atif N. Sikandar, Rao Faisal Sikandar and Rao Hasan Sikandar)and a grand son (Rao hassaan). His youngest son Rao Hasan Sikander is going to continue the legacy of his father by contesting in the next elections for the coveted seat of MNA from Okara. Iqbal died after prolonged illness in Okara, on 29 September 2010, at the age of 68. He had been suffering from

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

. Later, he suffered renal failure and needed dialysis.

Services

Okara is known as City of Ministers. It is also called a Milk Lake of Pakistan. Okara is beautiful gorgeous city which often called Mini Lahore by tourists. During the period of British rule there was a jungle of Okaan where the city has been built, and from this the name of the city was derived. Following some examples from the Services given by Rao Sikandar to Okara:- * Rao Sikandar Iqbal Road, Okara. * Benazir Road, Okara. * Okara Bypass, Okara. * Cadet College, Okara. * Kulsoom Hospital, Okara.(Currently working as Social Security Hosipital) * University of Education, Okara.(Now moved to Renala Khurd)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iqbal, Rao Sikandar 1943 births 2010 deaths Defence Ministers of Pakistan People from Quetta Pakistan People's Party politicians Punjabi people All Pakistan Muslim League politicians Forman Christian College alumni Punjab University Law College alumni Pakistani people of Haryanvi descent