54 • ALL-INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE

minister of finance in the caretaker administration headed by Moeen

Qureshi.
Babar Ali’s most important contribution was the establishment of
the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), a busi-
ness school modeled after the Harvard Business School. The success
of LUMS opened the sector of education to private initiative, espe-
cially at the university level, an important development, since Pak-
istan was faring poorly in providing quality education.

ALL-INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE (AIML). See THE MUSLIM

LEAGUE; THE PAKISTAN MUSLIM LEAGUE (PML).

ALL-PAKISTAN MUHAJIR STUDENTS ORGANIZATION

(APMSO). The All-Pakistan Muhajir Students Organization was
formed by Altaf Hussain, a muhajir (refugee from India), at Karachi
University in 1978. The APMSO’s aim was to protect the interests of
the muhajir students of Karachi University and other educational in-
stitutions in the city. It was a couple of years before the new organi-
zation was accepted by the muhajir students. Although the muhajirs
constituted a majority on the campus of Karachi University, the
APMSO candidates secured only 95 of the 10,000 votes cast in the
student elections of 1979. The Organization’s performance improved
dramatically in the elections of 1980, when it obtained 900 votes,
putting it in second place after Jamiat-e-Tuleba, the student organi-
zation affiliated with the Jamaat-e-Islami. It surpassed the Jamiat-e-
Tuleba by a wide margin in subsequent elections. The APMSO’s suc-
cess in the muhajir student community encouraged Altaf Hussain to
launch the Muhajir Qaumi Mahaz.

ALL-PAKISTAN WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION (APWA). The All-

Pakistan Women’s Association was formed soon after the establish-
ment of Pakistan. Its objective was to promote and protect the social
and economic rights of women in a country where the conservative
elements in the society interpreted dictates of Islam in ways that
were highly detrimental to women. Begum Raana Liaqat, the wife
of Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan’s first prime minister, took an active
interest in women’s affairs and became the first president of APWA.
APWA set up branches in all provinces of the country, staffed
 ALL PARTIES HURRIYAT CONFERENCE • 55

mostly by the spouses of senior government officials. As such, the or-

ganization was often not in a position to work actively for women’s
advancement when the government in power adopted policies that
were not supportive of giving women social, economic, and political
rights equal to those of men. The most critical test for APWA came
during the presidency of Zia ul-Haq. His administration
(1977–1988) introduced into the country Islamic laws that discrimi-
nated against women. APWA proved unequal to the challenge posed
by the Zia regime, and several new organizations, such as the
Women’s Action Forum, had to be established by women to protest
and fight this encroachment on their rights.
Although APWA was unable to assist the women of Pakistan in
dealing with the challenge posed by Islamists in the country, it helped
hundreds of thousands of women improve their economic situation.
This mission included setting up training centers for women to ac-
quire some basic skills and the establishment of retail stores that sell
products made by the women in these training centers. APWA’s close
association with the officialdom served it very well.

ALL PARTIES HURRIYAT CONFERENCE (APHC). The All Par-

ties Hurriyat Conference—an alliance of 26 political, social, and reli-
gious organizations—was formed on 9 March 1993 as a political or-
ganization to further the cause of Kashmiri separatism. The Conference
was consistently promoted by Pakistan in its effort to create a united
front against the Indian occupation of the State of Jammu and Kash-
mir. It was initially shunned by India. However, speculation that Delhi
was prepared to talk to the APHC began in early 2000, shortly before
the visit to South Asia by U.S. President Bill Clinton. This did not hap-
pen; the APHC had to wait for another four years before the senior
leaders of India began formal discussions with it. This was done by Lal
Krishna Advani, the deputy prime minister of India.
According to the constitution adopted in March 1993, “the APHC
shall be a union of political, social, and religious parties of the state
of Jammu and Kashmir with its headquarters in Srinagar.” It will
“make peaceful struggle to secure the [Kashmiri] people the exercise
of the right of self determination, in accordance with the UN Charter,
and the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council. However,
the exercise of the right of self-determination shall also include the