Sharif helped establish the Ittefaq Islamic Academy in Lahore, where students receive religious instruction in addition to their secular training. A practicing Moslem, Sharif comes from a religious family and has said he would make the teaching of the
Koran, the Moslem holy book, a compulsory subject up to the secondary level.
Sharif and his male cousins expanded his father's iron foundry only to lose it to a 1972 nationalization policy launched by the former prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. It was re-established in 1977 as Ittefaq Industries in Lahore. The business was returned after Sharif developed political links with then-president, Mohammad Zia ul-Haq. It was General Zia who brought down Bhutto in 1975, executing him two years later on charges of conspiracy. By 1990, Ittefaq Industries was one of Pakistan's most affluent conglomerates, with more than $450 million in annual revenues, up from about $16 million in 1981. It included the country's largest private steel mill, a sugar mill, and four textile factories. With upwards of ten thousand employees, Ittefaq has played a significant role in the development and growth of industry in Pakistan. It has likely influenced Sharif's political career and pro-business stance as well.
Began Political Career
Sharif began his political career in the early 1980s, while serving as director of the Ittefaq Group of Industries.
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