Khawaja Saad Rafique

Khawaja Saad Rafique (; born 4 November 1962) is a Pakistani politician who had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from October 2002 till August 2023 and the federal minister for Railways.

A leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Rafique previously served as the Minister for Railways in Abbasi cabinet from August 2017 to May 2018 and in the Sharif's third ministry from 2013 to 2017 and held the cabinet portfolio of Minister for Culture and the Minister for Youth Affairs briefly during the Gillani ministry in 2008.

Rafique had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 2002 to May 2018 and served as Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Youth Affairs from 1997 to 1999 under Sharif's second ministry.

Early life and education Rafique was born on 4 November 1962 in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan to Khawaja Muhammad Rafique and Begum Farhat Rafique. His family belongs to the Punjabi Kashmiri community.

His father, who was President of the right-wing Pakistan Ittehad Party and former leader of the Pakistan Democratic Party, was assassinated on 20 December 1972 near the Punjab Assembly in Lahore while returning from a political procession led by Air Marshal Asghar Khan to mark a "black day" against the rule of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

His mother is a politician as well a qualified educationist, running the Khwaja Mohammad Rafiq Memorial School while also being active in different social welfare groups.

Rafique enrolled at the M.A.O. College

In the 1997 Pakistani general elections, Rafique participated in the elections on the PML-N's ticket and was elected as the member of Provincial Assembly of the Punjab for the first time. He was appointed Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Youth Affairs by then Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif, but his tenure was terminated by General Pervez Musharraf after the latter's 1999 Pakistani coup d'état. He was among the PML-N leaders who confronted Musharraf in the absence of Nawaz Sharif. During the period, he served as president of PML-N Punjab.

He was eventually arrested and imprisoned after calling for Musharraf's removal. He, along with party colleagues and lawyers, took to the streets calling for the resignation of Musharraf and the reinstatement of judges deposed by him. He was also put behind bars for partaking in violent protests for the said purpose. Among PML-N's leaders, Rafique was one of the activists who kept the PML-N alive during the Musharraf government. In June 2013, Rafique was appointed Minister of Railways by the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and took oath on 8 June 2013.

He had ceased to hold ministerial office in July 2017 when the federal cabinet was disbanded following the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after Panama Papers case decision. Following the election of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as Prime Minister of Pakistan, Rafique was inducted into the federal cabinet of Abbasi and was appointed Minister for Railways for the second time. Upon the dissolution of the National Assembly on the expiration of its term on 31 May 2018, Rafique ceased to hold the office as Federal Minister for Railways.

He was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency PP-168 (Lahore-XXV) in the 2018 Pakistani general election. Rafique also ran for the seat of the National Assembly from Constituency NA-131 (Lahore-IX) but was unsuccessful as he was defeated by Prime minister Imran Khan along with 4 other seats from which he won in general election of 2018.

He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-131 (Lahore-IX) in the by-election held on 14 October 2018 after Imran Khan resigned from this seat and kept his home-city seat of Mianwali.

After the removal of Prime Minister Imran Khan through the vote of no confidence Khawaja Saad Rafique was made Railway Minister in Shehbaz Sharif's Cabinet.

Rafique was defeated by Latif Khosa in the General Election held on 8 February 2024.

Personal life

Family His brother Khawaja Salman Rafique has been a member of Provincial Assembly of the Punjab and was Provincial Minister of Punjab for Health.

Relationships He has married twice. His first wife Ghazala Saad Rafique has been a member of Provincial Assembly of Punjab. He has two daughters and one son from his first wife. In April 2017, it was reported that Rafique has secretly married a PTV host Shafaq Hira, without the consent of his first wife, Ghazala. In June 2018, Rafique disclosed his second marriage to Shafaq Hira in his nomination papers for 2018 general election.

Writings Rafique has written Urdu-language opinion columns, including Jawab Aan Ghazal ["A Response in Kind" or literally "A Counter-Ghazal"], published in the Daily Express on 15 April 2014. In this column, he responded to criticism of politicians by a former Supreme Court judge, defending the role of elected representatives in a democracy. He addressed issues such as judicial overreach, civil-military imbalance, and political victimization, while emphasizing the need for institutional accountability and democratic norms. The column also referenced the political history of his family, including the assassination of his father, Khawaja Muhammad Rafique, in 1972.