Aitzaz Ahsan

Ahsan was born on 27 September 1945, in Murree, British Punjab. He belongs to a Punjabi Jat family of the Warraich clan, and grew up in Lahore. He received his early education from Aitchison College. He then enrolled in Government College Lahore and later studied law at Downing College, Cambridge. He was at Gray's Inn in 1967. He then appeared in Central Superior Services examination where he reportedly topped. However, he did not join the government service.

Ahsan returned to Pakistan in 1967. He joined Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and began his political career in 1970s. He was elected as the member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab for first time on the ticket of PPP j on by-elections held following the Pakistan General elections of 1977 from Gujrat constituency. He was inducted in the provincial cabinet of Punjab and was appointed the Provincial Minister for information, planning and development. Ahsan was in his twenties during his tenure as provincial minister. He resigned from the provincial cabinet and left PPP following the incident in which Punjab Police opened fire on a rally of lawyers during the Pakistan National Alliance demonstrations against the alleged rigging of elections by the PPP government in 1977. Ahsan joined Tehrik-e-Istiqlal. He rejoined the PPP following the Operation Fair Play and actively became involved with the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy and for his participation in the MRD, he was repeatedly imprisoned. He was reportedly jailed for two years during Zia -ul-Haq presidency. He was elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan on PPP ticket for the first time in Pakistan General elections of 1988 from Lahore constituency. He was inducted into federal cabinet and was appointed the Minister for Law and Justice, along with the additional portfolio of the Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control. He was re-elected as the member of the National Assembly of Pakistan on PPP ticket for the second time in Pakistan General elections of 1990 from Lahore constituency.

Professionally, Ahsan is a barrister at law and a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He is a senior partner of Aitzaz Ahsan & Associates. Ahsan has represented several high-profile Pakistani personalities including three Prime ministers of Pakistan in various cases such as Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto and Yousaf Raza Gillani and former President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari. He had served as President of Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan. He is known for representing and leading the lawyers campaign to reinstate former Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. In 2008, Ahsan was awarded the Asian Human Rights Defender Award by the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission in recognition. Ahsan was arrested following Pakistani state of emergency, 2007. He was under house arrest in his house in Lahore for four months. He was released in March 2008. Ahsan is also a noted human rights activist in Pakistan.

Ahsan is the author of the book The Indus Saga and the Making of Pakistan and its Urdu translation, Sindh Sagar Aur Qyam-e-Pakistan which presents the cultural history of Pakistan and argues that the Indus region is a distinct entity from the rest of India and constitutes a nation. He has also co-authored the book Divided by Democracy with Lord Meghnad Desai of the London School of Economics.