page_title: Nawaz Sharif
section_title: Social policy
hierarchical_section_title: Nawaz Sharif / Third term as prime minister (2013–2017) / Social policy
caption_attribution_description: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on January 21, 2016, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Davos, Switzerland, before they both attended a trilateral meeting with Vice President Joe Biden and Afghanistan President Ashram Ghani on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. [State Department Photo/Public Domain]
context_page_description: Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is a Pakistani businessman and politician who served as the prime minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. Sharif is the longest-serving prime minister of Pakistan having served a total of more than 9 years.
  Born into the upper-middle class Sharif family in Lahore, Sharif is the son of Muhammad Sharif, the founder of Ittefaq and Sharif Group. He is the elder brother of Shehbaz Sharif, who also served as the chief minister of Punjab. According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, Sharif is the one of the wealthiest men in Pakistan, with an estimated net worth of at least 1.6 billion Pakistani rupees. Most of Sharif's wealth originates from his businesses in steel construction.
  Before entering politics in the 1970s, Sharif studied business at Government College and law at the University of Punjab. In 1981, Sharif was appointed by President Zia as the minister of finance for the province of Punjab. Backed by a loose coalition of conservatives, Sharif was elected as the Chief Minister of Punjab in 1985 and re-elected after the end of martial law in 1988.
context_section_description: Sharif's third term moved from social conservatism to social centrism. In 2016, he called the future of Pakistan as one underpinned as an "educated, progressive, forward looking and an enterprising nation". In January 2016 he backed the Punjab government policy of banning Tablighi Jamaat from preaching in educational institutions and in February he enacted a law to provide a helpline for women to report domestic abuse, despite the criticism of conservative religious parties.
  Sharif's government hanged Mumtaz Qadri on 29 February 2016. Qadri had fatally shot Salman Taseer over his opposition to blasphemy laws. According to BBC News, the move to hang Qadri was an indication of the government's growing confidence in taming the street power of religious groups. To the disliking of religious conservatives, Sharif promised that the perpetrators of honour killings would be 'punished very severely'. In March 2016, The Washington Post reported that Sharif was defying Pakistan's powerful clergy by unblocking access to YouTube, pushing to end child marriage, enacting a landmark domestic violence bill, and overseeing the execution of Qadri. Sunni Tehreek led protests of nearly 2,000 Islamic fundamentist on 28 March 2016, staging a three-day sit-in at the D-Chowk in Islamabad, demanding that Sharif implement Shariah and declare Qadri a martyr. In response, Sharif addressed the nation, stating that those "fanning the fire of hatred" would be dealt with under the law.
  Nation's future lies in democratic, liberal Pakistan where the private sector thrives and no one is left behind
  — Nawaz Sharif
  Sharif's government declared that the Hindu festivals Diwali and Holi, and the Christian festival of Easter, were officially public holidays. Time Magazine called this a "significant step for the country's beleaguered religious minorities." On 6 December 2016, Sharif approved the renaming of Quaid-i-Azam University's (QAU) physics centre to the Professor Abdus Salam Center for Physics. Sharif also established the Professor Abdus Salam Fellowship to fully fund five Pakistani doctoral students in physics. In response, the Council of Islamic Ideology criticised Sharif's move claiming that "changing the department's name would not set the right precedent."
  Sharif stressed the need for operation Zarb-e-Qalam to fight societal extremism and intolerance through the power of "writers, poets and intellectuals". Addressing the Pakistan Academy of Literature, Sharif said that "in a society where flowers of poetry and literature bloom, the diseases of extremism, intolerance, disunity and sectarianism are not born". Sharif also announced a ₨500 million endowment fund for the promotion of art and literary activities in Pakistan. On 9 January 2017, the government denied visas for international preachers for the Tablighi Jamaat conference in Lahore. Jamia Binoria criticised the government's decisions.
  Sharif, in a March 2017 address at Jamia Naeemia, urged Islamic scholars to spread the true teachings of Islam and take a firm stand against those who are causing disunity among Muslims. Sharif called for a "progressive and prosperous Muslim world", and asked "religious scholars to [...] take the war against these terrorists to its logical end."
caption: US Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with Sharif in 2016, at the InterContinental Hotel in Davos.[relevant?  – discuss]
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