Azeem Daultana – عظیم دولتانہ; was born on April 4, 1979 to Zahid Daultana and Farah. He was raised in Lahore, Pakistan where he attended Aitchison College starting from Class 1. He gave his Senior Cambridge in 1995 in which he achieved a 15 aggregate, (3 A’s and 3 B’s). He gave his Higher Senior Cambridge in May 1997, in Economics, Business Studies and Mathematics. He was an exceptionally intelligent student and always excelled in academics. At Aitchison College he was also an avid swimmer and took part in swimming competitions. He was also a member of the Aitchison College Chess team and ranked 3rd in the Chess championships.
After Aitchison College, due to an illness to his father, he took over the family business of pesticides and drove it to great success. He also tended to his lands and focussed on Agriculture and farming. He started his political career from Luddan as he along with his father Mian Zahid Khan Daultana elected Nazim in the first local bodies in 2002 from two different Union Councils. At the age of 27 he met with Benazir Bhutto and she was so impressed by him that she gave him a ticket for Pakistan’s People’s Party to contest for the National Assembly election from NA-168. He worked extremely hard in his region as Nazim, and he did everything he could, often on his own with no support from provincial or federal governments, cleaning up the sewerage systems, providing basic necessities and gathered the trust and support of the people and was elected MNA in the February 2008 Elections by defeating seasoned politicians handily. He was well respected and hailed as a visionary leader.
During his tenure as an MNA, he had regional, national and international impact. He worked endlessly for the people he represented. He built schools, brought a gas connection to a village where previously there was none and helped take Luddan from a village to a bustling town. On a national level, he was appointed Parliamentry Secretary of Information and Media. He often defended the media’s independence and the governments support of it, but he always cautioned them about their responsibility to the general public. He appeared on numerous talk shows along with prominent personalities, such as Imran Khan and Shahbaz Sharif and talked about the current Goverments policies and implementation. He also wrote profound articles that were published in the top newspapers in the country. (Links to the articles can be found at the media section).
Azeem, also had the honor to make an impact at the national level. He was part of delegations on energy to China and the US. He accompanied the prime minister on a number of ocassions and was a forthright and very well respected member of the national assembly. He worked tirelessly for a better Pakistan and he was extremely proud of having the ability to represent his people and his country and relished every opportunity he got. He was honest and steadfast in his dealings with everyone he met. He never waivered in his goals and he never succumed to any favours, even in times of great need.
He was later appointed as Parliamentary secretary minister of defence, which is an extremely important ministry of the country and also includes the CAA.
In June 2011, he decided to settle down and had his Nikkah with a lovely girl from an even lovelier family from Multan. He was extremely happy and spent the last few months of his life preparing for the wedding that would never be.
On January 10th, 2012 – Azeem Daultana was driving home after making prepartions for wedding guests in Vehari, when his car skidded off the road and struck a tree from the side. Azeem and his guard, Nawab Khan were both tragically killed in the accident.
Azeem was his parents only son. His Grandfather was Mian Riaz Khan Daultana and his grandfather’s cousin, Mian Mumtaz Daultana (former Chief Minister Punjab and Pakistan Ambassador to the UK). He comes from a great line of extraordinary people, but rather than being proud, he was humbled by it and strived to honour them by protecting their legacy and by upholding the family name. His death was mourned by the President and the Prime Minister, who made a personal trip to Luddan to visit his family and express his condolences. Lauding the services of late Member of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister said Azeem Daultana had played a significant role in legislation and debate sessions of the Parliament. He said the Parliament had been deprived of a committed young parliamentarian who had an exemplary potential. Gilani said that both the opposition and the treasury benches acknowledged political acumen of Azeem Ahmed Daultana as the great politician always honoured parliamentary norms. This tragic loss is not just a loss for his family, his friends, but for the entire country. He was a good politician, but more importantly – a great person. A future leader of Pakistan that we desperately needed.
May his soul rest in peace.
Azeem Daultana - A Memorial 