Muhammad Rafiq Tarar

Justice Muhammad Rafiq Tarar English IPA:rəfɪ̈kʰ ʔɑr(ə)ɹ (Urdu: محمد رفیق تارڑ), is a retired associate judge of the apex Supreme Court of Pakistan and senior jurist who served as the ninth President of Pakistan from January 1, 1998 until voluntarily resigning from the presidency in the favor of General Pervez Musharraf on June 20, 2001.

A professional legislator and jurist, Tarar was a prominent activist for the Pakistan Movement, performing voluntary duty as a relief worker in camps set up by Liaquat Ali Khan for refugees, migrating from India to Pakistan. Educated and graduated from the Punjab University's law college, Tarar elevated as 28th Chief Justice of Lahore High Court, appointed and nominated by Benazir Bhutto in 1989, and was a senior associate judge at the Supreme Court of Pakistan, subsequently retiring from the judicial authority in March 1997. Following the resignation of Farooq Leghari, Tarar was nominated as the presidential candidate by the prime minister Nawaz Sharif due to his lack of interest in national politics, and wide interests in enhancing the constitutional democracy in the country.

President Tarar was merely a constitutional and ceremonial figure, while the executive powers laid under the control of Prime minister. Tarar is the only president to have come from the judiciary of Pakistan and has also the distinction of having secured an all-time high number of votes from an electoral college, consisting of a total votes of Pakistan Parliament and the four Provincial Legislatures, making him the only president who received overwhelming support from the elected representatives of the people of Pakistan. President Tarar was in deep shock and wholeheartedly upset after hearing the military coup d'état took place to remove the elected prime minister Nawaz Sharif and voluntarily resigned from the presidency in favor of General Pervez Musharraf on June 20, 2001.

Life

Muhammad Rafiq Tarar was born in Gujranwala, British Punjab Province of the British Indian Empire on 2 November 1929. Tarar comes from a Muslim Jat family and hails from native village Pirkot, near at the Gujranwala district. Tarar attended the Atta Muhammad High School and completed his matriculation from there. In 1945, Tarar enrolled in Islamia College Gujaranwala where he gained his BA in 1949graduated from the Islamia College in Gujranwala, in 1949. The same year, Tarar entered in Punjab Law College where he secured his LLB in 1951. After graduation, he was enrolled as a Pleader in Lahore High Court.

Family

He has three sons and a daughter. He also has nine grand children the most prominent being Muhammad Hussain Tarar who studies at Aitchison College.

Professional career

In 1951, he enrolled as a Pleader. He also was enrolled as an Advocate in the Lahore High Court during October 1955. After graduating, he established a practice in Gujranwala before rising to the position of Additional District and Session Judge and later District and Session Judge.In 1971 he became Chairman of the Punjab Labor Court. He was alleviated as a judge of Lahore High Court in October 1974 and later became the Chief Justice of the same court in 1989. Earlier, during his days as Judge of the Lahore High Court, he also served as member of the Pakistan Election Commission. Justice Muhammad Rafiq Tarar was elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court in January 1991, from which he retired in November 1994 on attaining the age of 65 years.

President of Pakistan

He was brought out of his retirement by Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and afterwards he was elected as member of the Senate in 1997 on the PML(N) Party ticket. Later in the same year he was elected as the President of Pakistan on December 31, 1997 with record number of votes.

During his presidency, Tarar was mostly a figurehead ruler. The Presidency of Pakistan's powers had been slowly removed over the years, culminating in 1997 Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan which removed virtually all remaining reserve powers, making the office almost entirely symbolic in nature as per the true spirit of the Pakistani constitution.

Retirement

Tarar was not removed from office when Pervez Musharraf seized control of the Pakistani government in 1999. While Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was deposed, Tarar chose to remain in office until 2001, at which point Musharraf assumed the presidency in order to restructure Pakistan's model of government.

External links

• Muhammad Rafiq Tarar profile Story of Pakistan
• Biography of Rafiq Tarrar (Ex-President of Pakistan) YouTube
• Concern in Pakistan over Presidential nominee BBC article, December 16, 1997
• Tarar sworn in as Pakistani president BBC article, January 1998

v t e Presidents of Pakistan (List) I.Mirza A.Khan Y.Khan Z.A.Bhutto F.I.Chaudhry Z. ul-Haq G.I.Khan W.Sajjad (Acting) F.Leghari W.Sajjad (Acting) M.R.Tarar P.Musharraf M.M.Soomro (Acting) Zardari Italics indicate military rulers