Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Date of Birth: February 13th, 1911

Place: Sialkot (Punjab), Pakistan

Faiz's mother was Sultan Fatima. Faiz's father died in Sialkot in 1913. Faiz's father was a learned man and enjoyed the company of well-known literary persons. Wrote the biography of Amir Abdur Rehman. Faiz was therefore, born in a respectable and literary environment and was a very promising student with a religious background.Primary Education: Started memorizing the Holy Quran at the age of four and in 1916 started his formal education in the famous school of Moulvi Ibrahim Sialkoti, and learnt Urdu, Persian and Arabic. Was admitted to the Scotch Mission High School in 1921 in Class IV. Passed his Matriculation Examination in the 1st Division from Murray College, Sialkot and during this period learnt Persian and Arabic from Allama Iqbal's teacher, Shamsul Ullama Moulvi Syed Meer Hasan.

College Education: Passed his B.A. (Honours) in Arabic from the Government College, Lahore and then M.A. in English from the same College in 1932. Passed his M.A. in Arabic in the 1st Division, from Oriental College, Lahore.

Employment: Lecturer in English at M. A. O. College, Amritsar in 1935 and then at Hailey College of Commerce, Lahore. Joined the Army as Captain in 1942 and worked in the department of Public Relations in Delhi. Was promoted to the rank of Major in 1943, and Lieut. Colonel in 1944. Resigned from The Army in 1947 and returned to Lahore, where, in 1959 appointed as Secretary, Pakistan Arts Council and worked in that capacity till 1962. Returning from London in 1964 he settled down in Karachi and was appointed as Principal, Abdullah Haroon College , Karachi. Editorship of the monthly magazine Adabe-Latif from 1947 to 1958. Worked as Editor under the Progressive Papers Ltd, of the Pakistan Times, the Urdu newspaper Imroze and the weekly Lailo-Nihar. In the 1965 war between India & Pakistan he worked in an honorary capacity in the Department of Information. Acted as Editor of the magazine Lotus in Moscow, London and Beirut.

Marriage & Children: In March 9th, arrested under Safety Act and charged in the Rawalpindi Conspiracy case, and having borne the hardships of imprisonment for four years and one month in the jails of Sargodha, Montgomery (now Sahiwal) Hyderabad and Karachi, was released on April 2nd, 1955.

S.M. Zafar

Mr. S.M. Zafar is a human rights activist, noted lawyer, politician and member of the Senate of Pakistan. He has served as a judge of the high court and as Pakistan’s minister for law and parliamentary affairs. He is chancellor of Hamdard University and Chairman of Human Rights Society of Pakistan. His efforts for recognition and promotion of human rights and fair practices have attained him acclaim and acknowledgment on national and international levels. In his capacity as an attorney, Mr. Zafar has been involved in some of the most important cases of country’s legal history. He is considered an authority on legal and constitutional issues and his opinions are quoted in national and international press. He is also the chairman of Cultural Association of Pakistan.

Samreen Soomro

Samreen Soomro is an SEO expert and a search engine marketing strategist based in Karachi, Pakistan. She provides SEO Services and Internet Marketing Consultancy for companies looking to maximize their return on investment by having their websites optimized. She can also manage all aspects of PPC campaigns. Samreen holds a Master\'s degree in Computer Science and is currently pursuing an MBA degree with concentrations in Management Information Systems and Marketing. 

Farhan Jaffry

Farhan Jaffry graduated from Premier College and currently pursuing his MBA in Marketing, Farhan has a remarkable career in the field of Search Engine Optimization. Farhan truly exemplifies the “big picture” thinker, always having the foresight to see the long-term implications of a plan. Farhan Jaffry has helped his numerous clients to get good rankings on the serps , he has strong hands on both on-page and off-page optimization. He’s a strong link builder and web marketing strategist and currently working with a US based organization and teaming up with Zafar Ahmed on various SEO projects.

Supna Zaidi

Supna Zaidi is assistant director of Islamist Watch at the Middle East Forum. She is also editor-in-chief of Muslim World Today, which was the first American Muslim newspaper to fight against Islamism's encroachment in America. Ms. Zaidi received a B.A. in political theory and a B.A. in history of the Near East and Religion from the University of California, San Diego (1999) and a J.D. from New York Law School (2003). After graduation from law school, Ms. Zaidi practiced family, deportation and asylum immigration law in New York and New Jersey for three years before transitioning into policy and national security issues.

Ms. Zaidi is the daughter of Tashbih Sayyed, a renowned reformer in the Muslim world, close friend and supporter of the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Muslim World Today as well as the Council for Democracy and Tolerance. Sayyed was also a liberal journalist and general manager of Pakistan Television in Pakistan in the 70s. Ms. Zaidi's family was forced to leave Pakistan after the Islamification policies of Zia ul-Haq.

While living in California, Ms. Zaidi and her family experienced marginalization and death threats from Islamists for publicly expressing pro-Israeli, pro-secular views and for being critical of the anti-democratic politics in Pakistan.

Ms. Zaidi considers herself a very middle-of-the-road American Muslim. She is liberal in terms of abortion, gay rights, etc., but believes that moderates and liberals have got the "war on terror" completely wrong as they have allowed themselves to be swayed by Islamist manipulation of notions of multiculturalism and cultural relativism, while further pushing their agenda in Muslim and American communities.

Ms. Zaidi has been published in the American Spectator, the Middle East Quarterly, Pajamas Media, and Frontpage Magazine and has a weekly column in Muslim World Today.

Tashbih Sayyed

Tashbih Sayyed 1942-2007 (Tashbih ul Hassan Zaidi) son of Shabih ul Hassan Zaidi belonged to the Zaidi family of Saadaat-e-Baarah. He worked for Radio Pakistan and Pakistan Television as General Manager before moving to the United States of America in 1981. Through his writings, speeches and television interviews, he tried to educate muslims and non-muslims about the liberal and humane principles and values in Islam. For the past ten years, Tashbih Sayyed was editor-in-chief of the weekly newspapers "Pakistan Today" and "Muslim World Today." He is survived by his wife, two sons, daughter and daughter-in-law.

Syed Faisal Ali Subzwari

Syed Faisal Ali Subzwari was re-elected as Member of Sindh Assembly from the constituency of PS - 126 Karachi - XXXVIII on February 8, 2008 and appointed to the Cabinet, as Minister of Youth Affairs. He had also served as Member of the Sindh Assembly from 2002 to 2007, having been elected at an age of 27.

Having done his Masters in Economics from Karachi University besides doing BBA (Finance) from PIMSAT, he excelled in academics and extra-curricular activities throughout his student life. He has been recognized as one of the most brilliant orators. He has also been an active cricketer. He has also headed APMSO (Student Wing) of MQM as Chairman.

Dr. Farooq Sattar

Dr. Farooq Sattar Pirwani is the Deputy Convener and Parliamentary leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a mainstream & third largest political party in Pakistan.

He belongs to Memon, Muhajir family and lives in PIB Colony of Karachi, a modest and lower-middle income class area. A former mayor of Karachi, he was the youngest mayor in its history when he was elected at age 28.

He has also served as Provincial Minister in the Sindh Cabinet for Local Bodies and is one of the senior Members of the MQM Co-Ordination Committee. Dr Farooq Sattar is also heading Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate.

Born in Karachi, Sindh, on April 09, 1959, Muhammad Farooq Sattar has been elected MNA as an MQM Candidate. He was returned to the National assembly in the by-elections following the death of the former MNA from the constituency. He is presently serving as the Leader of his parliamentary party in the National assembly.

A medical doctor by profession, he received his M.B.B.S degree from Sindh Medical College in 1986. He was previously elected as MNA for the terms of 1988-1990 and 1990-1992; and as MPA Sindh assembly for 1993-1996, and 1997-1998. He has also served as Mayor Karachi from 1987 to 1992.

Married, he is the father of two daughters. His interests include reading books and public welfare.

On 16th March 2008 he was nominated as Prime Minister of Pakistan candidate by the opposition parties in Pakistan.

Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi

Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi was born in February 2nd, 1969 in Karachi. He has been elected for his Second term as MNA. He is politically Afiliated with MQM. He completed his M.S.C Degree in Applied Chemistry in 1992 from the University of Karachi and M.Sc. Chemical Engineering in 1998 from University of Detroit, USA. He is Engineering Management Consultant by profession. He is also qualified as a lead auditor for ISO 9000, Lead auditor for ISO 14000 and has attended a wide range of mangement and training courses. Married with a son and daugthers, he has travelled to the UK, USA, Kenya, Germany, Tanzania and Canada. His interests include reading Urdu Literature, writing urdu poetry, playing cricket and Chess.He is a Member of young parliamentarians Forums (YPF) Pakistan. He is a Deputy Parliamentry Leader.

KhushBakht Shujat

Mrs. KhushBakht Shujat was born on November 01, 1948 in Bhopal, India. Ms. KhushBakht Shujat received a Masters degree in Journalism from Karachi University in 1975.

She has been elected as a MNA from constituency No 250 Karachi-XII in General Election held on February 18, 2008 on the ticket of Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM). She is also serving as the President of Cultural and Literacy Forum in her party MQM.

Mrs. KhushBakht Shujat is married and mother of two daughters and two sons. She has had an illustrious career as a television compare and teaching. She is a well-known for her debating skills. Her areas of legislative interests include foreign affairs, education, women development and health. She enjoys reading, music and gardening in her leisure time.