Salmaan Taseer life and biography

Salmaan Taseer was a Pakistani businessman and politician who served as the governor of the province of Punjab from 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and had also served as a minister in the caretaker cabinet of Prime Minister Muhammad Mian Soomro under Pervez Musharraf. Taseer was also the chairman and CEO of the First Capital and Worldcall Group.

He was appointed to the post of governor on May 15, 2008, in place of outgoing governor, Lt Gen (R) Khalid Maqbool, by then-President Musharraf at the request of the PPP establishment.

Political career

Taseer started his political career in his student era, as a member of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the late 1960s. He was a part of the movement for Bhutto's freedom and opposed his arrest and death sentence. He also wrote a political biography on Bhutto titled Bhutto: A political biography (1980).

In the 1988 general elections, Taseer became a member of the Punjab Assembly from Lahore. In the 1990, 1993 and 1997 general elections, he ran as an MNA but lost.

In 2007, he was appointed the interim Federal Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives.

On May 15, 2008, Taseer was designated for the office of Governor of Punjab by the PPP-led coalition government. On January 4,2011 he was murdered in Islamabad by a guard assigned to him for security by the Punjab Government.

Some veteran politicians have suggested to President Asif Ali Zardari that he appoint Ms. Amna Taseer, the widow of the late Salman Taseer, as Governor of Punjab.[citation needed] If she is appointed, she would become the second female governor in Pakistan and first female governor of Punjab. It is, however, yet to be accepted or acceded to by the ruling parties in Punjab province.

Business career

Taseer set up several chartered accountancy and management consultancy firms early in his career. In 1995, he established the First Capital Securities Corporation (FCSC), a full service brokerage house with equity participation by Smith Barney, Inc., USA, and HG Asia Hong Kong.

Taseer founded the Worldcall group with a payphone network in 1996. The group has grown over the years to become a major private sector telecom operator with a national and regional footprint. A majority stake in Worldcall was acquired by Omantel, the Sultanate of Oman's incumbent operator, in 2008.
Taseer also owned an English news channel in Pakistan, Business Plus, and the first children's channel, Wikkid Plus, and was the publisher of the English language Daily Times.

On January 4, 2011, Taseer was assassinated in Islamabad by his own security guard, who disagreed with his opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy law.

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