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Dr Ashraf Choudhary
MP, QSO
	Dr Ashraf Choudhary ; MP, QSO
Born	February 15, 1949 (age 60); Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan
Nationality	Pakistan
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Samina
Residence	Wellington,; New Zealand
Alma mater	University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF) Pakistan; Massey University, New Zealand
Committees	Primary Production Committee
Fields	Agricultural Engineering
Institutions	Massey University

Ashraf Choudhary, QSO, (born 15 February 1949) is a Pakistani-New Zealand scientist in agricultural engineering and a member of the Parliament in New Zealand. He is a member of the Labour Party, and is New Zealand's first MP from South Asia and Pakistan. He and his wife Samina (born in Lahore, Pakistan) have three children.

[edit] Education

Choudhary was born in the Pakistani half of the Punjab region in village Jajjay. His family were farmers, though not poor. He attended high school in the town of Sialkot, and then gained a degree in agricultural engineering from University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF) in Faisalabad. He continued his studies abroad, gaining a master's degree in agricultural engineering at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England and a PhD in agricultural engineering at Massey University, New Zealand. By profession, Choudhary was originally an environmental scientist and taught at the Massey University of New Zealand before his induction into Parliament. He has published a large number of scientific papers in his field, and is considered to be an international authority on conservation tillage. His work has a particular focus on agricultural techniques in developing countries.

[edit] Migrating to New Zealand

Before entering Parliament, Choudhary had worked with a number of community organizations, including such groups as the New Zealand Federation of Ethnic Councils and FIANZ - the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (of which he was president in 1984-85). In his capacity as president of FIANZ he oversaw the first annual halal meat contract with the New Zealand Meat Producers Board in June 1984, with the aid of Mazhar Krasniqi, Hajji Abdul Rahim Rasheed and Dr. Mohammad Hanif Quazi.

He was awarded a QSO for his community work in 2001.

[edit] Entrance into Kiwi Politics

Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
2002–2005	47th	List	40	Labour
2005–2008	48th	List	25	Labour
2008–present	49th	List	31	Labour

Having been a supporter of the Labour Party for some time, Choudhary was elected to Parliament as a Labour Party list MP in the 2002 elections. He was sworn in on the Qur'an, something which Winston Peters (leader of the New Zealand First party) criticised as a breach of proper procedure. The rules, however, contained no prohibition against it, allowing the taker of the oath to specify any religious text they wished (or, alternatively, use none at all). Because Parliamentary officials did not have a copy of the Qur'an, they obtained a copy from the FIANZ office, which was then donated to the Parliamentary Library for use in the future.

Since entering Parliament, Choudhary has served on the Primary Production, Local Government and Environment, and Education and Science select committees. He also came to public attention in 2003, when he abstained in a vote to legalize prostitution (the only MP to do so). If he had voted against the change, it would have failed, and some people (including most prominent members of the Muslim community) blame him for the bill's success.

[edit] Contribution to Kiwi Muslim community

Choudhary once again came to the attention of the Muslim community in December 2004, when he announced his intention to vote in favour of the deeply controversial Civil Union legislation. Choudhary remarked that "if the law allows one minority group in our society to be discriminated against then all minorities are vulnerable".

In July 2005 Choudhary came to the public's attention again when he refused to condemn outright the practice of stoning people for homosexual and extramarital sexual behaviour. In TV3's 60 Minutes show in July 4, 2005, Dr. Choudhary was asked: "Are you saying the Qur'an is wrong to recommend that gays in certain circumstances be stoned to death?" He replied: " No, no. Certainly what the Qur'an says is correct." He then qualified his statement, "In those societies, not here in New Zealand". [1]

[edit] Further reading

Choudhary, Mohammed Ashraf; Baker, C. J. (1985), Developments in direct drilling techniques, Auckland, [N.Z.]: New Zealand Energy Research and Development Committee