Iftikhar A. Ayaz

Sir Iftikhar Ahmad Ayaz Sahib is a former Tanzanian government officer and international human rights and environmental campaigner who serves as honorary consul for Tuvalu to the United Kingdom, based in London. In 2017, he invested Prince William with the Tuvalu Order of Merit on behalf of the Governor-General of Tuvalu at Kensington Palace. In 2020, Sir Iftikhar Ahmad Ayaz was awarded the Queen's Medal for humanitarian service; he was awarded the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2022. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2025 Birthday Honours for services to Tuvalu.

Early life and education Iftikhar Ayaz received his early education in Qadian, India. His father, Mukhtar Ahmad Ayaz, was a pioneer in the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at movement.

Career

Education officer In 1958, he entered government service in Tanzania, in the department of education. He has argued publicly that Tuvalu has not received its fair share of profits from the Internet country code top-level domain .tv, particularly with the rise in popularity of Internet video. In raising awareness for the possible destruction of Tuvalu due to climate change, he has stated publicly that he is frustrated with the "defeatist" attitudes which have focused on ways to relocate the Tuvaluan people to New Zealand and Australia. He presented the case of the Ahmadiyya in Pakistan, who are not allowed to practise Islam as their faith and are denied the right to vote unless they reject allegiance to their leader.

Personal life

An active member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at, Ayaz established a Jama'at centre in Bukoba, Tanzania, in 1964, as well as a centre in Arusha.