Asad Rahim Khan
Born1990 (age 33–34)
Lahore, Pakistan
NationalityPakistan Pakistani
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Barrister
  • writer
Academic work
DisciplineConstitutional law
InstitutionsLahore University of Management Sciences

Asad Rahim Khan (born 1990) is a Pakistani barrister, constitutional lawyer and writer.[1][2]

He served as law clerk for Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, before joining the attorney-general's office in 2016. He was involved in drafting the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, merging the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He teaches constitutional law at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, and writes columns for Dawn.

Early life

Rahim was born in Lahore, Pakistan. He graduated from the London School of Economics with a Bachelor of Laws in 2012, and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn.

Career

Rahim served as law clerk to Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah at the Lahore High Court, before joining the Office of the Attorney-General in 2016. He was part of the federation's legal team before the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers and lifetime electoral disqualification cases.[3] In 2018, he advocated that the attorney-general's office oppose the judgment of the Sindh High Court acquitting Shahrukh Jatoi in the Shahzeb Khan murder case, in a petition moved before the Supreme Court by social activist Jibran Nasir.[4]

Rahim returned to private practice in 2019 as a partner at Ashtar Ali LLP. He was appointed to Prime Minister Imran Khan's working group of experts on international investment treaty reforms in 2020.[5] He represented Punjab's restored local government before the Lahore High Court, arguing for the completion of their full tenure after its illegal dismissal by the PTI ministry in Punjab.[6]

Twenty-Fifth Amendment

Rahim was part of the Attorney-General's committee that drafted the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. Supporting a full merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Rahim wrote that such a merger would extend basic citizenship rights to millions of people for the first time since decolonization, and also abolish the colonial-era Frontier Crimes Regulations that allowed for collective punishment of tribespeople. He opposed more gradual measures short of merger, including the Rewaj Act.[7]

Views

Rahim was a weekly columnist for The Express Tribune from 2013 to 2016, before moving to Dawn in 2017. He was also cohost of current affairs programme Do Raaye on Dawn News alongside satirical commentator and columnist Fasi Zaka, which aired from 2016 to 2021. In 2020, Rahim turned down an invitation to right-wing Indian television anchor Arnab Goswami's show on Republic TV, replying, "If I wanted to hear a fascist lunatic scream for war for an hour, I would listen to Joseph Goebbels's old speeches".[8]

Jinnah

In a long essay published in Dawn on 14 August 2023, Pakistan's 75th independence anniversary, Rahim rebutted historian Ayesha Jalal's thesis that the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, did not seek Partition or a separate state, referring to Jinnah's speeches, statements, and private correspondence, as well as the papers of colonial officials.

Indian politician Shashi Tharoor critiqued Rahim's argument that Jinnah was not at fault for seeking Partition, as the telling of "Pakistani liberals" that thought that Jinnah, who had once been hailed "as the ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity, was blameless."[9]

Military courts

Rahim opposed the creation of military courts for trying terrorists in 2015. He opposed military courts again in 2023, and termed the judgment of the Supreme Court banning such courts as “courageous and potentially expansive”.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Pakistan's top court is eager to take on any brief". The Economist. 28 March 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "Pakistan's Supreme Court orders Punjab election on May 14". Al Jazeera. 4 April 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "Full text of SC verdict in Panama". Daily Times. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  4. ↑ Malik, Hasnaat (20 June 2019). "Barrister Khan appointed AGP". The Express Tribune. Express Group. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "Pakistan seeks to reform int'l investment regime". The Express Tribune. Express Group. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  6. ↑ Hussnain, Fida (15 December 2021). "Secretary summoned over LG officials' term completion plea". Minute Mirror. Retrieved 4 November 2023. The petitioners, Barrister Khan argued, could not represent the citizenry for 22 months and subsequent seven months and that they were denied the chance to fulfill the legitimate expectation of serving public interest.
  7. ↑ Khan, Asad Rahim (4 October 2017). "Brave new world". Dawn. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  8. ↑ "Pakistani lawyer turns down Arnab Goswami's invitation". Janta Ka Reporter. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  9. ↑ Tharoor, Shashi (17 December 2019). "Dear Amit Shah, stop distorting history to explain your failures today: Shashi Tharoor". The Print. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  10. ↑ Dawn (23 October 2023). "Lawyers hail 'courageous' SC verdict on military trial of civilians". Retrieved 4 November 2023.
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