Hadia Tajik (born 18 July
1983) is a Norwegian-pakistani lawyer, journalist and politician. She is a Member of Parliament from the Labour Party representing Oslo.[1] On 21 September 2012 she was appointed Minister
of Culture and became the youngest minister ever in Norway.
Hadia Tajik was born 18 July 1983 in the village of
Bjørheimsbygd in Strand, Rogaland to shopkeeper M. Sarwar Tajik (1947-) and mother
Safia Qazalbash (1948-). Her parents had emigrated from Pakistan. After completing
Bjørheimsbygd elementary school as one of only seven pupils, she attended Tau
junior high school between 1996 and 1998 and later Strand Senior high school
from 1998 to 2001. She studied human rights at Kingston University in England from 2004 to 2005, she has a bachelor's degree in journalism fromStavanger University College and studied law at the University of Oslo receiving her Master
of Law degree in 2012
Tajik
was active in politics from an early age, and was the leader of the Strand
chapter of the Workers youth
league (AUF) from 1999
to 2002, before becoming deputy leader of the Rogaland AUF from until 2003. She
served as political advisor to the Minister
of Justice,Knut Storberget, from
2008 to 2009. While serving under Storberget, she became involved in the
so-called hijab-affair when the Department of Justice
withdrew a decision to allow police women to wear hijab in the service. It was
a decision Tajik, along with Astri Aas-Hansen, allegedly authored.[4] Previously
she held the position of advisor to the Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg (in 2009) and the Minister for Labour
and Social Inclusion, Bjarne Håkon
Hanssen (2006 to 2008).[5]
On 14 September 2009, Tajik was elected Member of
Parliament for the
Norwegian Labour Party. Representing Oslo, she was listed as candidate number
six on the Labour ticket, which was considered a safe seat.[6] During her tenure in parliament, she
was a member of the Standing Committee on Education, Research and Church
Affairs as well as the Election
committee. On 19 September 2012 she announced her intention to run
for re-election for Oslo.
On September 2012, as part of a larger cabinet reshuffle,
prime minister Jens Stoltenberg announced that Tajik would become the new
Minister of Culture. She replaced Anniken
Huitfeldt who became the new Minister of Labour and
Social affairs. At the time, she was the youngest ever to become a minister in
Norway (at 29), and her appointment made her the first ever Muslim to serve in the Norwegian cabinet.
(Wikipedia)
