Rana Sanaullah

Rana Sanaullah Khan (Punjabi, ; born 1 January 1955) is a Pakistani lawyer and politician who served as the 39th Interior Minister of Pakistan.

Rana Sanaullah Khan was born on 1 January 1955 to Sher Muhammad Khan into a Punjabi Rajput family, and is a practicing lawyer, holding a bachelor's degree in commerce from Government College, Faisalabad and an LLB from Punjab Law College, Lahore.

He's a cousin of former Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Rana Sanaullah was elected to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab as a candidate of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in 1990 Pakistani general election.

He was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab as a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) in 1997 Pakistani general election.

Under Section 9(C) of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act of 1997, which contains the death penalty, life in prison, or a sentence that may last up to 14 years in jail, as well as a fine of up to Rs1 million, a first information report was filed.

According to the First Information Report (FIR), Sanaullah was allegedly involved in drug trafficking and was transporting heroin to Lahore.

This information had been provided to the force.

He was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from PP-70 (Faisalabad-XX) as a candidate of (PML-N) in 2002 Pakistani general election.

He was also elected as the leader of opposition of the Punjab Provincial Assembly.

In 2003, he was abducted by alleged intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and was badly tortured for speaking against military regime.

Different pictures published in different newspaper showed Rana without his signature moustache and a shaved head.

His acquaintances claim that the torture resulted in such an everlasting effect that interrupted the natural process of hair growth and since then his hair didn't grow that bushy as they were before.

When freed, he was subsequently shifted to DHQ hospital.

Previously, he has served as the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister of Punjab from 2008 to 2018, Local Governments and Community Development Minister of Punjab from 2008 to 2014, Revenue Minister of Punjab from 2008 to 2013, Public Prosecution Minister of Punjab from 2008 to 2013, and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition (Punjab) from 1990 to 1993 and again from 2002 to 2007.

He was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from PP-70 (Faisalabad-XX) as a candidate of (PML-N) in 2008 Pakistani general election.

Rana Sanaullah met SSP's leader Maulana Ahmed Ludhianvi in February 2010, in his capacity as Law Minister and PML-N leader, arguing that the SSP "had a vast following and vote-bank and that its support made political sense", eventually justifying the electoral alliance between the PML-N and SSP.

Christophe Jaffrelot goes further, saying that it's not only about political alliance for Rana Sanaullah but also ideological affinities, as during that campaign he "showed devotion to SSP heroes", having paid respect at the tombs of Haq Nawaz Jhangvi and Azam Tariq.

Salman Taseer, the Governor of Punjab who was himself assassinated in 2011 by Mumtaz Qadri, a militant Islamist, before his death accused the PML-N in general and Rana Sanaullah in particular of entertaining links with militant organizations such as the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a group known to use violence against Pakistan's religious minorities, especially the Shi'as.

Observers note that Taseer's security at the time of his death was in the hands of the PML-N, Shehbaz Sharif being the Chief Minister of the province while Rana Sanaullah was the Law Minister.

In August 2011, he accused an American contractor in Pakistan Warren Weinstein of being an American spy although Weinstein had lived in Pakistan for seven years and there was no evidence that he was a spy.

He was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from PP-70 (Faisalabad-XX) as a candidate of (PML-N) in 2013 Pakistani general election.

On 17 June 2014, Punjab Police raided the Minhaj-ul-Quran International's Lahore secretariat on the pretext of removing security barriers from its surroundings.

Tahir-ul-Qadri's followers, who were preparing for his arrival from Canada to launch an anti-government movement on 23 June 2014, protested and deadly skirmishes started.

A dozen of Tahir-ul-Qadri's devotees were killed including three women and around hundred got seriously wounded from bullet shots.

Rana Sanaullah, who is considered only second to the Chief Minister, remained adamant that the police action was justified which added to the public fury.

In the wake of public reaction and opposition's criticism, Shahbaz Sharif sacked Rana Sanaullah as Law Minister, and Punjab's top bureaucrat.

However, Qadri and other opposition leaders including Imran Khan held Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Punjab, responsible for the civilian deaths at the hands of police and demanded his resignation.

FIR of Model Town tragedy was registered against key figures of the present government including the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister and Rana Sanaullah.

A joint-investigation-team (JIT) was later formed to investigate the incident.

Weinstein went missing a week later and was accidentally killed in a January 2015 US drone strike on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, as announced by U.S. President Barack Obama at a White House press conference on April 23, 2015.

The government led JIT he was sworn in as Punjab Law Minister again in May 2015.

However no conclusive actions has been taken regarding the incident.

He had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from August 2018 till August 2023.

He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from NA-106 (Faisalabad-VI) as a candidate of (PML-N) in 2018 Pakistani general election.

He is a senior member of PML-N and the President of PML-N in Punjab province since 4 May 2019.

Before getting elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan, Sanaullah had been elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab five times and had served in high-ranking ministries of the province.

When Sanaullah was travelling from Faisalabad to Lahore in July 2019, the Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) Lahore team detained him close to the Ravi Toll Plaza on the highway.

He was twice denied bail by the trial court, but on December 24, 2019, the Lahore High Court granted him liberty.

Sanaullah claimed on 10 December 2022 that the case against him was "concocted, designed, and created" after the multiple hearings.