Arif Alvi President of Pakistan since 2018 Date of Birth: 29.07.1949 Country: Pakistan

1. Early Life and Education
2. Professional Career
3. Political Career
4. Presidency
5. Alleged Involvement in PTV Attack

Early Life and Education

Arif Alvi, Pakistan's current President since 2018, was born on either July 29 or August 29, 1949 (sources vary), in Karachi, Pakistan. His father, Habib-ur-Rehman Elahi Alvi, was a dentist who moved to Karachi from India after the partition in 1947. His mother's information is not available in the provided text.

Alvi completed his secondary education in Karachi and moved to Lahore in 1967 for higher studies. He earned a Bachelor of Dental Surgery from De'Montmorency College of Dentistry. In 1975, he obtained a Master's degree in Prosthodontics from the University of Michigan, and in 1984, he received a Masters of Science in Orthodontics from the University of the Pacific.

Professional Career

After completing his education, Alvi returned to Pakistan and established his own dental practice, Alvi Dental Hospital. In 1997, he became a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics. He also drafted the constitution of the Pakistan Dental Association and served as its president.

He played a significant role in dentistry, including being Chairman of the first-ever International Dental Conference held in Pakistan in 1981 and being elected President of the 28th Asia-Pacific Dental Congress. He later became the Dean of the Orthodontics Faculty at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan. In 2006, he was elected President of the Asia-Pacific Dental Federation, and in the following year, he became a Council Member of the World Dental Federation.

Political Career

Alvi's political journey began as a campaigner for a religious party. While studying at De'Montmorency College of Dentistry, he became actively involved in student politics. He joined Islami Jamiat-i-Tulaba, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, and served as the President of the student union. During these years, he criticized the military regime of President Muhammad Ayub Khan and was injured in a protest in 1969.

After Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's victory in the 1977 Pakistani parliamentary elections, Alvi became politically active. In 1979, he contested for the Sindh Provincial Assembly as a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate but lost. Disillusioned with the organization, he left Jamaat-e-Islami and joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 1996. He became a founding member and helped draft the party's constitution.

Alvi served in various positions within PTI, including Vice President and Secretary General. He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan in 2013 and became the party's provincial president in Sindh in 2016. In 2018, he was re-elected to the National Assembly.

Presidency

PTI nominated Alvi as their presidential candidate on August 18, 2018. He was elected the 13th President of Pakistan on September 4, 2018, after winning the presidential election with 352 votes. Alvi is the second dentist in the world to become a president after Turkmenistan's Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.

Alleged Involvement in PTV Attack

In 2014, supporters of PTI stormed the headquarters of Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) during a protest. Alvi was named as a suspect in the police dossier alleging his involvement in the attack. An arrest warrant was issued against him in November 2014. However, the case was dismissed by an Anti-Terrorism Court in January 2018, and after his election as President in September 2018, Alvi's lawyer argued that he was immune from criminal prosecution.