Dr. Asim Hussain was born in Karachi, Pakistan on 28
November 1953 to Ms. Ejaz Fatima and Mr. Tajammul Hussain, the founding members
of the Dr. Ziauddin Group of Hospitals.
Dr. Asim Hussain received his early
education from the Karachi Grammar
School and later enrolled in the Cadet College,
Petaro at about the same time as Asif Zardari. After serving a brief period in the Pakistan Army, Dr. Asim Hussain retired as a Lieutenant and
chose to pursue the degree of MBBS. He graduated from Dow Medical
College (now, Dow University of Health Sciences) Karachi in 1978 and
went to Europe for further studies. He became a member of College of
Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (CPS) in 1981 and continued his studies in Vienna, Austria.
He developed and expanded the
hospital he had inherited until it became a teaching hospital and eventually a medical
university. However, due to his political affiliation he also held the
following positions:
·
Honorary
Personal Physician to the President of Pakistan, since December 12, 2009
·
Advisor/Federal
Minister Petroleum & Natural Resource from May, 2011 until May, 2013
·
Advisor
to the Prime Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources/Federal Minister
from November, 2008 until August, 2009
·
Chairman,
National Reconstruction Bureau with the status of Federal Minister from May, 2008
until November, 2009
On the 27th of August 2015 Asim
Hussain was detained by the Authorities in an ongoing operation within the city
of Karachi launched by the Pakistani Army.
The charges against Dr. Asim range
from providing protection and treating terrorists to embezzlement and
corruption to the tune of Rs. 920 billion in course of his lucrative
appointments.
I have never met him but have heard
people talk about him. During Benazir’s reign as PM, steel products of Karachi’s
Pakistan Steel Mills
were sold officially @ Rs. 18,000/ton and in open/black market @ Rs. 30,000 per
ton. The explanation given by the traders was that to buy any steel from the mills
they first had to get a parchi or prescription form a certain doctor
sahib after paying cash @ Rs. 6,000/ton. The reason why nobody complained about this
obvious extortion was that doctor sahib was a close friend of the first
gentleman of Pakistan. Not surprisingly, the steel mill is now closed.
On March 29, 2017 Dr. Asim was released on bail, though his
passport has been confiscated. For more details read Dawn.
It is interesting to note that whereas PPP leaders have been condemning the arrest and prosecution of Dr. Asim, the medical profession has kept quiet on the issue.
