Early life
Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was born in Lahore on 25 December 1949.
He is the eldest son of a Kashmiri
named
Mian Muhammad Sharif,
a joint owner of the Ittefaq Group of Industries. His mother’s family
was a prominent
wrestler family in the Kashmir valley though it migrated
to Punjab.. His father, Muhammad Sharif, was from a
village in what is
now the Indian state of Punjab called Jati Umra, near Amritsar also
migrated from Kashmir.
He migrated in 1947 to Pakistan, during the
partition. Muhammad Sharif was a businessman and built the Ittefaq Group
of Industries in Zia era.
Nawaz Sharif was educated at St. Anthony's High School.
After graduating from Government College Lahore he
obtained his Law
Degree from the Punjab University. Following his education, he entered
Punjab provincial
politics, joining the Punjab advisory council. He
became finance minister of Punjab in 1981 and also served as
minister of
sports. He was credited with increasing funding for sports activities
and rural projects.[3]
Nawaz was a cricketer during his early life, and played a first class
game in the 1973-74 season representing
Pakistan Railways. He also
played a side match against West Indies when he was prime minister.
He married Kulsoom Nawaz, who is the grand-niece of the great
wrestler Gama.
Political life
Nawaz Sharif started his political life when Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was in power, as a provincial
minister in
the Punjab government of Ghulam
Jilani Khan. After the 1985 election, he became Chief Minister of
Punjab.
Due to his abilities and mostly supervision (by military and
civil) establishment, he filled the gap in Pakistani
politics and proved
one of the most popular political leader in the history of Pakistan.
