Pakistani Politician »» Liaqat Baloch

A former member of the Parliament (1985 and 1991), Mr. Liaqat Baloch originally hails from Muzaffargah, a remote area in the Southern Punjab. Born in Multan on 9th December, 1952, Mr Baloch holds Masters degree in Mass Communication and a Bachelor degree in Law. Mr Liaqat Bloch was associated with Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) during his early school days. Held various offices of the IJT at district and province level. He was twice elected Nazim-e-A’la (President) of the IJT. During his studies at the Punjab University, Lahore he played an active role in student politics.

Mr Baloch was elected president of students’ union, Punjab University besides completing a successful stint of Secretary General of Punjab University Students Union. In recognition of his services to promote the cause of students, he was elected Secretary General of Asian Students Association in 1978. He had also been member of World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) and International Federation of Islamic Students Organizations (IIFSO).

Despite first class first position and winning a Gold medal in Masters with excellent academic record, Mr Baloch neither opted journalism field nor the legal practice to start his practical life. He, instead chose the thorny field of politics with a commitment to serve the oppressed masses.

His cool and friendly temperament earned him good repute in the religio-political circles of the country. In recognition of his country-wide reconciliatory efforts to forge unity between various Muslim sects, he was elected Chairman of Punjab Chapter of the Milli Yekjehti Council (MYC). 1996-97

He worked as Secretary Political Bureau of Jama’at-e-Islami Pakistan (1994-1997). He is also a member of the JI Committee on Information. Liaqat Baloch was twice elected member of National Assembly from Lahore. Also headed Jama’at-e-Islami Parliamentary Party in the Lower House (National Assembly).

He set worth-following trends in the parliamentary history during his two-terms as the JI parliamentarian. During his stay in the Parliament, Mr Baloch headed Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Science and Technology. He was also member of the Public Accounts and Business Committees of the same house.

He was instrumental in establishing Human Right Network of Pakistan (HRN), which is playing a role of catalyst in order to bring a positive change in society. The forum had helped scores of people in getting redressed to their abridged human rights on many occasions.

During his two terms as member of National Assembly, Mr Liaqat Baloch visited Iran, China, Turkey, Russia and Central Asian States as a member of various high level delegations. On behalf of his party (JI), at the invitation of various government and non-government organizations, he visited Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Qatar, UAE, London, USA, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Bosnia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Bangladesh to attend international conferences (January 1, 2000).