Walid Iqbal
{{Short description|Pakistani politician}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = Senator
| name = Walid Iqbal
| office = Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights
| term_start = 14 December 2018
| term_end = 10 April 2022
| office4 =
| term_start4 =
| term_end4 =
| birth_date =
| relations = Allama Muhammad Iqbal (grandfather)
Yousuf Salahuddin (cousin)
| parents = Javid Iqbal (father)
Nasira Iqbal (mother)
| spouse = Nuria Rafique Iqbal
| children = 3
| residence = Lahore
| alma_mater = University of Pennsylvania (B.A)
University of Punjab (L.L.B)
Harvard University (M.A)
University of Cambridge (M.A)
| occupation = {{hlist|Lawyer|Law professor|politician}}
| imagesize =
| president =
| party = PTI (2011-present)
| appointed =
| governor_general =
| term_start2 =
| term_end2 =
| Prime minister =
| office1 = Member of the Senate of Pakistan from Punjab
| termstart1 = 14 December 2018
| predecessor1 = Haroon Akhtar Khan
| website = https://walidiqbal.pk/
| native_name = ولید اقبال
}}
Walid Iqbal is a Pakistani politician, lawyer, law professor, and a member of Senate of Pakistan{{Cite web |title=Senate of Pakistan |url=https://senate.gov.pk/en/profile.php?uid=941 |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=senate.gov.pk}} from Punjab, Pakistan and the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Human Rights.{{Cite web |last=Reporter |first=The Newspaper's Staff |date=2022-03-15 |title=Senate committee passes amended bill on child rights body |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1680009 |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}} He frequently participates in international conferences, panel discussions, and television talk shows.{{cite web |title=Speakers – Islamabad Literature Festival |url=https://islamabadliteraturefestival.com/speakers/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250601132707/https://islamabadliteraturefestival.com/speakers/ |archive-date=June 1, 2025 |access-date= |website=Islamabad Literature Festival}}
Early life and education
= Family background =
Walid Iqbal is the grandson of poet and politician Allama Muhammad Iqbal,{{Cite web |last=Ramzan |first=Usman |date=2018-12-15 |title=Walid Iqbal and Seeme Ezdi Sworn in as Senators |url=https://acenews.pk/walid-iqbal-and-seeme-ezdi-sworn-in-as-senators/ |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=ACE NEWS |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Banu |first=Bogdan |title=Eminescu – Romania's Cultural Ambassador and The Story Of His Monument In Pakistan – ROMANIANS OF DC |url=https://romaniansofdc.org/2021/01/15/eminescu-romanias-cultural-ambassador-and-the-story-of-his-monument-in-pakistan/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522141741/https://romaniansofdc.org/2021/01/15/eminescu-romanias-cultural-ambassador-and-the-story-of-his-monument-in-pakistan/ |archive-date=22 May 2022 |access-date=2022-04-07}}{{Cite web |date=May 29, 2015 |title=Iqbal's grandson brings cross-border cheer {{!}} Kolkata News - Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/iqbals-grandson-brings-cross-border-cheer/articleshow/47464163.cms |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=The Times of India |language=en |agency=TNN}} and the son of philosopher and former Senior Justice Javid Iqbal and judge Nasira Iqbal.{{Cite web |title=High Commission for Pakistan, London |url=https://www.phclondon.org/infodiv/pressreleases/20161111_dr_javid_iqbal_remembered_at_pembroke_college_cambridge.aspx |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=www.phclondon.org}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}{{Cite web |last=Dawn.com |first=Imran Gabol {{!}} |date=2015-10-03 |title=Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, son of Allama Iqbal, passes away in Lahore |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1210647 |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}
His maternal grandfather Dr Abdul Waheed was a diplomat who represented Pakistan at the League of Nations and was also the managing director of the Ferozsons publishing house while his maternal grandmother Saeeda Waheed was a Pakistan Movement activist and social worker.{{Cite web |date=24 March 2012 |title=Profile: Purposefully active |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/705319/profile-purposefully-active |website=Dawn News}}
= Education =
After completing high school at Aitchison College in Lahore, Iqbal went to the United States and received a bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1988.{{Cite web |title=Biography |url=https://walidiqbal.pk/biography/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414082740/https://walidiqbal.pk/biography/ |archive-date=14 April 2024 |website=Walid Iqbal}}
He then studied at the University of Cambridge in 1989 and 1990, earning his Master of Philosophy degree in International Relations, his thesis being The World Bank’s Changing Relationship with Pakistan 1950–1990.{{r|insafians}}[http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-26208-Allama-Iqbals-grandson-joins-PTI Allama Iqbal’s grandson joins PTI] – The News
He also received a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Punjab in 1994 and a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School in 1997.{{Cite web |date=2017-07-27 |title=Walid Iqbal |url=https://www.insaf.pk/leadership/walid-iqbal |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf |language=en}}
Professional career
Legal career
Iqbal specialises in mergers and acquisitions, privatisation, corporate and project finance (particularly in the power sector), financial institutions, investment management, joint ventures, energy and petroleum, asset finance, information technology, telecommunications and software development, and corporate restructuring.{{Cite web |title=WALID IQBAL - Lexium |url=https://www.lexiumlaw.com/personnel/james-milner/ |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=Lexium Law}}
Between 1997 and 2004, he worked for two international law firms, Sullivan & Cromwell and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. In January 2005, he returned to Pakistan and started his own law practice. He is an adjunct professor of business law at the Suleman Dawood School of Business, part of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).{{Citation needed|date= June 2018}}
He is a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN), and is on the board of directors of the Lahore Stock Exchange.[http://www.insafians.com/news/who-is-waleed-Waleed-iqbal-profile-of-ptis-newest-addition/ Who is Waleed Iqbal? Profile of PTI’s newest addition] 10 November 2011 – Insafians.com
= Bar memberships =
- Advocate, Pakistan (1994)
- Advocate, High Courts of Pakistan (1996)
- State of New York (1998)
- Roll of Solicitors of England and Wales (2004; currently non-practicing)
Political career
Iqbal joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in November 2011.{{Cite web |title=Allama Iqbal's grandson joins PTI |url=https://www.geo.tv/latest/33575-allama-iqbals-grandson-joins-pti |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=www.geo.tv |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2011-11-08 |title=PTI to form anti-corruption cell, expose 'assets' of Sharifs, Zardari |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/289015/pti-to-form-anti-corruption-cell-expose-assets-of-sharifs-zardari |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=The Express Tribune |language=en}} He was the party's candidate for the National Assembly from the NA-124 (Lahore-VII) district in the 2013 election, but was defeated by Sheikh Rohail Asghar of PML-N.{{Cite web |date=2013-07-16 |title=Election 2013 – Sheikh Rohail Asghar Won the Seat from NA – 124 Lahore VII |url=https://thepakmedia.com/election-2013-sheikh-rohail-asghar-won-the-seat-from-na-124-lahore-vii/2013/05/11 |access-date=2022-04-07 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130716084501/https://thepakmedia.com/election-2013-sheikh-rohail-asghar-won-the-seat-from-na-124-lahore-vii/2013/05/11 |archive-date=16 July 2013 |url-status=usurped}}{{Cite web |title=NA 124 Election Result 2013 {{!}} Lahore-II Election 2013 {{!}} PakElection |url=https://pakelection.pk/general/national/2013/NA-124/ |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=pakelection.pk}}
He took oath as a member of the Senate of Pakistan representing Punjab, Pakistan on 14 December 2018.{{Cite web |title=PPP leader Shaukat Basra joins PTI |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/405735-ppp-leader-shaukat-basra-joins-pti |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=www.thenews.com.pk |language=en}} He was the chairman of the Senate Committee on Defence from 2019 to 2021. He is the chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence.{{Cite web |title=Senate of Pakistan |url=https://senate.gov.pk/com/index.php?id=279 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119092511/https://senate.gov.pk/com/index.php?id=279 |archive-date=2021-11-19 |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=senate.gov.pk}}
Writings
His published work spans a range of subjects, including Pakistan’s nuclear tests and related sanctions, the country’s constitutional framework, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, Islamic law and constitutionalism, Pakistan–Russia relations, and the philosophy of Iqbal.
Some of Walid Iqbal's publications include:{{Cite web |title=Writings |url=https://walidiqbal.pk/writings/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414082233/https://walidiqbal.pk/writings/ |archive-date=14 April 2024 |website=Walid Iqbal}}
- Islam and Democracy in the 21st Century [Russian-American Seminar on Democracy and National Movements in the Modern World Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa Branch Academy of Sciences of the Bashkortostan Republic October 20–23, 1999]
- Islamic Polity and the Constitutional Process in Pakistan [Article for the inaugural issue of the quarterly “Criterion”, Pakistan, Fall 2006]
- Life and Work of Iqbal: Why Muhammad Iqbal Has Contemporary Value [Presentation made at Conference on "Muhammad Iqbal Limits and Transcending Limits The Antagonism of Religion and Philosophy", Centre for Islamic Theology Westfȁlische Wilhelms University Münster, Germany Friday, 20 November 2015]
- Iqbal, Islamic Faith, and Islamic Civilization [Presentation made at The First International Symposium on Allama Muhammad Iqbal Zitouna University Tunis, Tunisia Tuesday, 26 February 2019]
References
{{Muhammad Iqbal}}
{{Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf|state=collapsed}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iqbal, Waleed}}
Category:Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf politicians
Category:Politicians from Lahore
Category:University of the Punjab alumni
Category:Pakistani people of Kashmiri descent
Category:Harvard Law School alumni
Category:Wharton School alumni
Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Category:Academic staff of Lahore University of Management Sciences
Category:Aitchison College alumni
Category:Sullivan & Cromwell people