Top 10 Famous Pakistani people

Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia

Top 10 Famous Pakistani people

This country is officially known as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is found in South Asia and is the world’s fifth-most populous country. The population in Pakistan is estimated to be 225.1 million.

There are several ancient cultural sites in this country like the 8,500-year-old Neolithic site of Mehrgarh in Balochistan, and the Indus Valley Civilisation of the Bronze Age.

With that said, Pakistanis are incredible people who have excelled in various fields. These influential personalities have made Pakistan known through their work in philanthropy, activism, art, culture, sports, politics, and academia.

Let us now look at the top 10 famous Pakistani people.

1. Malala Yousafzai – Activist

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We start the list with the most prominent woman in Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai. She is an advocate for girl child education in her country. Additionally, she is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

As a teenager growing up in Pakistan, Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban. This terrorist group was and still is against girls getting educated.

In her quest to get educated, Malala secretly went to school and documented her journey. Her story was aired on British Broadcasting Corporation under a false name.

Unfortunately, her identity was revealed and she became a target of the Taliban. In 2011, she was nominated for the award of International Children’s Peace Prize.

Malala was the world’s youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and the second Pakistani to ever receive a Nobel Prize. She received the award in 2014 when she was 17 years old.

She is a published author her first book is titled I Am Malala.

2. Abdul Sattar Edhi – Philanthropist

Abdul Sattar is a humanitarian and philanthropist. He is also the founder of the Edhi Foundation, which runs the world’s biggest volunteer ambulance network.

Sattar also runs shelters for the homeless, animal shelters, rehabilitation centres, and orphanages across the country.

The foundation spread to other areas of Pakistan in 1957 during the Asian Flu epidemic that originated from China.

Through donations from well-wishers, he was able to buy the first ambulance to ferry the affected to the hospital. He got help from his wife Bilquis Edhi.

Today, his foundation has more than 1,800 ambulances. The Pakistani people refer to Abdul as the Angel of Mercy.

His son Faisal took over the management of the foundation after Abdul’s death.    

3. Atif Aslam – Singer

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Atif is a playback singer, songwriter, composer and actor. He is best known for his hit songs in the Pakistani and Indian film industries.

Furthermore, Atif has recorded several songs that have been at the top of the chart in both Pakistan and India. His fans love him for his vocal prowess.

Aslam sings in Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Pashto and sometimes in Hindi.

In 2008, Aslam received the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz which is the fourth-highest civilian honour award from the Pakistani government. He has also received several Lux Style Awards.

His acting debut was in 2011 in an Urdu social drama. Atif received a star in the Dubai walk of Fame in 2019. This was after he was nominated for being the best singer in Pakistan.

4. Benazir Bhutto – Politician

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Benazir Bhutto is a very popular female activist and politician from Pakistan. She served as Pakistan’s prime minister in two separate terms, the 11^th and 13^th respectively.

Bhutto was the first woman in a Muslim majority nation to lead a democratic government.

Her political views were not always received by the government of the day. She was arrested on several occasions leading her to seek exile in Britain in 1984.

As a political leader, Benazir was liberal and a secularist in her ideologies. She was the chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) from the early 1980s until her assassination in 2007. She was 54.

5. Samina Baig – Professional Mountaineer

Samina Khayal Baig is a female high-altitude mountaineer. In 2013, she climbed Mount Everest and all the other Seven Summits by 2014.

Khayal was the first Pakistani woman to climb Everest and the Seven Summits at only 21.

She grew up in Shimshal village in Hunza Gojal, Pakistan. Her older brother, Mirza Ali, trained her in mountaineering when she was 15.

Other than scaling the highest peaks, Samina also doubles as a mountain guide and expedition leader.

She has been a professional mountain climber since 2009. Samina is the brand ambassador of Special Communications Organization, a telecom operator in Pakistan.

6. Aamna Taseer – Entrepreneur

Aamna Taseer is one of the first Pakistani women to be one of the main promoters and founders of the First Capital Securities Corporation Limited in Pakistan in 1994.

The company is a full-service brokerage house with equity participation by Smith Barney Inc USA and HG Asia Hong Kong.

Her company offers investment banking services in Pakistan. She also liaises with other leading international investment banks on advisory and corporate finance transactions.

As the first capital group in Pakistan, the company has attracted foreign investment to the country.

Services offered by the company include a mutual fund, and an investment management company.

7. Amir Liaquat Hussain – Media Personality

Amir is a television host and politician who was one of the founding members of the National Assembly of Pakistan since August 2018.

He was a member of the National Assembly from 2002 to 2007. Between 2004 and 2007, Amir served as the Minister of State for Religious Affairs in the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

As the junior minister of Religious Affairs, Hussain requested religious scholars from Pakistan to issue a ‘Fatwa’ regarding suicide bombings in May 2005.

That same year, he got attacked by furious youth when he visited Jamia Binoria. However, the police denied any targeted attacks on him.

8. Bushra Maneka – First Lady

Bushra Maneka is popularly known as Bushra Bibi. She is the current First Lady of Pakistan.

Bushra got married to Imran Khan six months before he became the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Although she is not active in politics, she supports her husband’s vision and policies.

Before she got married to Imran, she has spent her life in religious activities where she helped the needy and the helpless.

9. Imran Khan – 22^nd Prime Minister of Pakistan

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Imran Khan is the 22^nd Pakistani Prime Minister.

He played in the cricket’s national team as well as being the captain for the national team. Through his captainship, he led his team to win the 1992 Cricket World Cup.  

Other than being the PM, Imran is also the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Imran also served as the chancellor of the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom from 2005 to 2014.

Khan has been able to address a balance of payment crisis with a bailout from the International Monetary Fund. This has improved the economy of Pakistan.

His premiership has faced criticism from his political opponents regarding his anti-corruption campaign.   

10. Muhammad Iqbal – Author

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Sir Muhammad Iqbal, was famously known as Allama Iqbal. He was a famous poet, philosopher, lawyer and politician from British India.

Iqbal is believed to be the inspiration behind the historical Pakistan Movement. He was among the first few leaders to conceive the thought of having Pakistan as an independent Muslim nation.

As an educated man, Iqbal was a follower of Goethe, Heine and Nietzsche philosophies. He was introduced to them during his studies in Germany and England.

 Iqbal practised law in India before returning to Pakistan where he got into politics.

He has published books the best sellers being Rumuz-i-Bekhudi and Zabur-i-Ajam.