Salmaan Taseer was born on June 12, 1946. He was a businessman and politician. He 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.

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

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Personal Life

Salmaan Taseer was born into an affluent family of intellectuals. His father, Dr. Muhammad Din Taseer, was a close friend of Allama Iqbal and believed to be the first person from the subcontinent who obtained a PhD in English literature from England. His mother Bilqis Taseer (Christobel) was an Englishwoman who was the sister of Alys Faiz, a writer and wife of the famous Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz. Faiz and Alys' daughter Salima Hashmi, who is an artist and painter, is his first cousin.
Salman Taseer married Aamna Taseer; the couple resided in Lahore. They have three children; Shahbaz, Shehryar, and Shehrbano. Salman Taseer also has 3 children from a previous marriage: Sara, Shaan, and Sanam
Taseer also has a son, Aatish Taseer (born 1980), with Indian journalist, Tavleen Singh. Married at the time, Taseer met Singh during a book promotion trip to India in the late 70s. Aatish is a freelance journalist in the UK and has recently written a book titled Stranger to History: A Son’s Journey through Islamic Lands on his estranged relationship with his father.
Taseer was known to be one of the trusted aides of Benazir Bhutto. He was a classmate of Nawaz Sharif at Saint Anthony School, Lahore. He had obtained a degree in Chartered Accountancy from London.

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