New Pakistan President is son of Nehru’s dentist
Islamabad, Sept. 5: ( PTI) Pakistan’s newly elected President Dr Arif Alvi shares an interesting connection with India as his father was a dentist to India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, according to the short biography of the President on the website of his Pakistan TehreekeInsaf party.
Alvi, a close ally of Prime Minister Imran Khan and one of the founding members of the Pakistan Tehreek- e- Insaf ( PTI) party, was elected as the new President of Pakistan Tuesday.
The 69- year- old former dentist defeated Pakistan Peoples Party candidate Aitzaz Ahsan and the Pakistan Muslim LeagueN nominee Maulana Fazl ur Rehman in a threeway contest to become the 13th president.
Being a son of Nehru’s dentist is not the only connection that Alvi has with India. He is yet another Pakistani President whose family migrated to Pakistan from India after partition.
Mr Alvi’s predecessors Mamnoon Hussain’s family came from Agra and Pervez Musharraf ’ s parents migrated from New Delhi.
His father Dr Habib ur Rehman Elahi Alvi was a dentist to Nehru before partition, according to short biography of the new President on the website of his Pakistan Tehreek- i- Insaf party.
“Dr Elahi Alvi was a dentist to Jawaharlal Nehru and the family has letters from Mr Nehru to Dr Alvi in their possession,” according to the website.
Mr Alvi, whose full name is Dr Arif ur Rehman Alvi, was born in Karachi in 1947 where his father settled after partition. He inherited the profession of a dentist from his father who practised dentistry in India before partition and opened a dental practice in Saddar, Karachi after migration.
His father was also connected with the Jinnah family and was made a Trustee of the trust established by Shirinbai Jinnah ( Quaid- e- Azam’s siter) to which she gift all her worldly belongings including the Mohatta Palace in Karachi.
Mr Alvi started his political career about five decades ago when he was a student of de’ Mont monr ency College of Dentistry, an affiliate of University of Punjab in Lahore. He was part of the students’ wing of Jamaat- i- Islami and protested against military ruler Ayub Khan.