Nehal Hashmi sworn in as Sindh’s 35th governor

Pakistan Muslim League (N) leader Nehal Hashmi has taken the oath of office as the 35th governor of Sindh in a ceremony held at the Governor House in Karachi.

The Sindh High Court Chief Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput took oath from the new governor 

The oath-taking ceremony was attended by several prominent figures, including Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Senior Minister Nasir Shah, Interior Minister Zia Lanjhar, chief secretary of Sindh, Karachi Deputy Mayor Salman Abdullah Murad, and Inspector General of Police Javed Alam Odho.

Hashmi, a Karachi-based lawyer and politician, previously served as a member of the Senate of Pakistan from March 2015 to February 2018. Born on January 28, 1960, in Karachi, he began practising law in the late 1980s and specialises in criminal and constitutional cases.

During his student years, he founded the All Pakistan Youth League and later formally entered politics in the 1990s. He joined the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in 1992 and served as an adviser on law, justice and human rights to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from 1997 to 1999.

He has represented clients in several high-profile cases, including matters involving Nawaz Sharif before the National Accountability Bureau and proceedings related to the Murtaza Bhutto case. Hashmi served as the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president for Karachi in 2012 and was appointed the party’s general secretary in Sindh in August 2014.

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In 2015, he was elected to the Senate on a Punjab seat on the PML-N ticket. He has also been active in raising civic issues related to Karachi. The federal government led by the PML-N later appointed him governor of Sindh.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday approved the appointment of Nehal Hashmi as the new governor of Sindh on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, replacing Kamran Tessori.

According to a statement from the President’s House, the approval was granted under Articles 48 and 101 of the Constitution. The president also signed the commission of appointment formalising Hashmi’s nomination. Earlier, the prime minister had sent a summary to the president for approval and later met Hashmi to congratulate him.

The president and the prime minister extended their congratulations and expressed good wishes for his tenure.

Meanwhile, outgoing governor Kamran Tessori thanked the president, prime minister and other officials for their support during his tenure and expressed hope that the incoming governor would continue public welfare initiatives, particularly programmes supporting IT students in the province.