# Qamar Zaman Kaira

Qamar Zaman Kaira (Urdu: قمر زمان کائرہ; born 5 January 1960) is a former Minister of Information and Mass-Media Broadcasting in the Government of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013. He also remained an advisor on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif from 18 April 2022 to 10 August 2023.
Before heading the Ministry of Information, Kaira was the minister of the Ministry of Kashmir and Northern Areas and later ascended as acting Governor of Gilgit–Baltistan in 2009.
His career in national politics started in 2002 on the platform of the Pakistan Peoples Party.He has pioneered many articles on political philosophy and raised a voice for democracy in the country. After succeeding Sherry Rehman as minister of information in 2009, he lost his ministry in 2011 to Firdous Ashiq Awan. However, in 2012, he was again reappointed in the ministry of information after a cabinet reshuffle.
His son Osama Zaman Kaira died in a road accident on 17 May 2019 in Lalamusa in an attempt to save a motorcyclist, losing control of the car and crashing into a tree. He was buried on 18 May 2019 in Lalamusa.

## Education

Kaira was born in Lalamusa, Kharian Tehsil, Gujrat on 5 January 1960. He belongs to a political family from Gujrat region. After attending a local high school, Kaira matriculated and passed intermediate college testing examinations. After attending a F.G. Community College in Kharian Military District, Kaira made college transfer to Forman Christian University.
There, he enrolled in the Department of Philosophy and earned a BA in Philosophy from Forman Christian University in 1983. Kaira later applied to a graduate school at the University of Punjab to resume his higher education. In 1985, Kaira wrote his thesis for double master's degrees and subsequently obtained an MA in philosophy of politics and an MS in political science from the Punjab University.

## Political career

Kaira was elected to the National Assembly for the first time in 2002 and remained a member of the lower house of parliament until 2007. He returned to the National Assembly for a second consecutive term in 2008 and became a minister in the coalition government of the PPP, ANP, MQM and JUI-F formed after the 2008 elections.
He is a senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, having won from his local constituency in Gujrat in the 2002 and 2008 General Elections Pakistan. He was selected for the office of Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas on 31 March 2008, and was given the additional office of Federal Minister for Information on 14 March 2009. He remained Federal Minister until 2013.
After the resignation of the Imran Khan Government in 2022, Qamar Zaman Kaira was inducted into the cabinet of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He remained an advisor on Kashmir Affairs to former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif from 18 April 2022 to 10 August 2023.

### Other positions held

* Special Advisor to the Prime Minister (2022-2023)
* Federal Minister for Information Media and BroadCasting (2008-2013)
* Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan (2008-2013)
* 1st Governor of Gilgit Baltistan (2008-2010)
* Member National Assembly (2008-2013)
* Member, National Assembly of Pakistan (2002–2007)