Shaza Fatima Khawaja

Shaza Fatima Khawaja () is a Pakistani politician who is the current Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication, in office since 12 March 2024. She has been a Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since June 2013 and previously served as Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Youth Affairs with the status of Minister of State.

Early life and education

Shaza completed her education at Lahore Grammar School and Lahore University of Management Sciences before earning a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.

Political career

She was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan as a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) on a reserved seat for women from Punjab in Pakistani general election, 2013. In an interview, when asked how she was selected for a reserved seat for women in the National Assembly, she replied "I barely made the 5 p.m application deadline at the Punjab Election Commission. I thought I was applying for the Punjab Assembly, and as I rushed in, I was told in front of 20 live cameras that I was in fact going to be considered for the National Assembly. I found out about my eventual appointment by reading about it in the newspaper, just how the rest of the country found out.". As a niece of PML-N senior leader Khawaja Muhammad Asif, she encountered criticism for her selection to a reserved seat in the National Assembly, with some labeling it as nepotism.

In October 2017, she held the position of parliamentary secretary for the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, and Textile as well as served as the Vice President of the Young Parliamentarians Forum of the National Assembly.

She taught Political Science to undergraduate students at LUMS and served as a faculty member at LUMS from 2012 to 2018.

She was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of the PML-N on a reserved seat for women in Pakistani general election, 2018. On 14 May 2022, she officially took on the role of Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs in the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, with the rank of Minister of State.

She was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of the PML-N on a reserved seat for women in Pakistani general election, 2024. On 11 March, she was inducted into the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with the status of Minister of State. She was the sole female member of the 19-member cabinet. On 12 March, she was assigned the ministerial portfolio of Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication.

In August 2024, during a press briefing, she, as Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication, attributed internet slowdowns in Pakistan to a surge in VPN usage, and claimed it was stressing the country’s internet infrastructure. This explanation was met with criticism from digital rights advocates, businesses and IT experts, who found it unconvincing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khawaja, Shaza Fatima
Living people
Pakistani MNAs 2013–2018
Pakistani MNAs 2018–2023
Pakistani MNAs 2024–2029
Pakistan Muslim League (N) MNAs
Year of birth missing (living people)
Alumni of the University of Warwick
Lahore University of Management Sciences alumni