Ashraf Choudhary
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Dr Ashraf Choudhary (born 15 February 1949) is a member of Parliament in New Zealand. He is a member of the Labour Party, and is New Zealand's first Muslim MP.
Choudhary was born in the Pakistani half of the Punjab region. His family, who were farmers, was relatively poor. Although his parents were illiterate, He attended high school in the town of Sialkot, and then gained a degree in Agricultural Engineering in Faisalabad. He continued his studied abroad, gaining a Master's degree at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the United Kingdom and a PhD at Massey University in New Zealand. He has published a large number of scientific papers in his field, and is considered to be an international authority on conservation tillage. His work has a particular focus on agricultural techniques in developing countries. He worked at Massey University from 1976 to 2002.
Before entering Parliament, Choudhary had worked with a number of community organizations, including such groups as the New Zealand Federation of Ethnic Councils and the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand. He was awarded a QSO for his community work in 2001.
Having been a supporter of the Labour Party for some time, Choudhary was elected to Parliament as a Labour Party list MP in the 2002 elections. He was sworn in on the Qur'an, something which Winston Peters (leader of the New Zealand First party) criticised as a breach of proper procedure. The rules, however, contained no prohibition against it, allowing the taker of the oath to specify any religious text they wished (or, alternatively, use none at all). Because Parliamentary officials did not have a copy of the Qu'ran, Choudhary brought his own, which he then donated to Parliament for use in the future.
Since entering Parliament, Choudhary has served on the Primary Production, Local Government and Environment, and Education and Science select committees. He also came to public attention in 2003, when he abstained in a vote to legalize prostitution (the only MP to do so). If he had voted against the change, it would have failed, and some people (including some prominent members of the Muslim community) blame him for the bill's success.
In December 2004 Choudhary once again came to the attention of the Muslim community, when he announced his intention to vote in favour of the controversial Civil Union legislation. Chouhary responded, "if the law allows one minority group in our society to be discriminated against then all minorities are vulnerable".
Choudhary and his wife Samina (born in Lahore, Pakistan) have three children. He regularly visits his relatives in Pakistan.
External links
- Interview with Ashraf Choudhary (http://www.theasianoutlook.com/articles/March/40.htm)
- PakistanDost biography (http://www.pakistandost.com/choudhry.htm)