List of people from Karachi

This is a list of notable people from the city of Karachi in Pakistan, also known as Karachiites:

Armed forces

• Muhammad Mahmood Alam
• Pervez Musharraf - former President and Army Chief of Pakistan
• Ft. Lt. Rashid Minhas Shaheed - only PAF recipient of Nishan-e-Haider
• Vice Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan (Governor)

Art and literature

• Ahmad Ali - novelist, poet, critic, translator, diplomat and scholar
• Abul Khair Kashfi - critic, linguist, author, scholar
• Abul Lais Siddiqui - critic, linguist, author, scholar
• Anwar Maqsood - drama writer, anchor, actor
• Ashfaq Hussain - Urdu poet and television personality in Canada for Asian Television Network
• Aslam Farrukhi - writer, critic, linguist
• Dilawar Figar - humorous poet, scholar
• Farhat Ishtiaq - writer, author and screenwriter
• Farman Fatehpuri - researcher, poet, critic, linguist
• Fatima Surayya Bajia - drama writer
• Fahmida Riaz - writer, poet, activist
• Ghulam Mustafa Khan - writer, critic, linguist, researcher, scholar, educationist
• Habib Jalib - revolutionary poet, politician
• Hakeem Muhammad Said - pioneer of Eastern medicine, philanthropist
• Hameed Haroon - journalist, activist
• Hasan Abidi - scholar, poet, journalist
• Hasan Askari - philosopher, author, critic
• Haseena Moin - playwright, drama writer
• Ibn-e-Insha - poet, writer and humorist
• Ibn-e-Safi - novelist, story writer
• Iftikhar Arif - poet, critic, author
• Intizar Hussain - linguist, novelist, critic
• Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi - author, historian, educationist
• Jameel Jalibi - scholar, critic, linguist, former VC KU
• Jamiluddin Aali - poet, columnist, critic
• Jon Elia - poet, philosopher
• Josh Malihabadi - poet, linguist, scholar
• Khalique Ibrahim Khalique - journalist, poet, critic
• Manzoor Ahmad - philosopher
• Maulvi Abdul Haq - father of modern Urdu
• Mohammad Abdul Ahed - architect, educator, painter (1919–2001)
• Mushtaq Ahmed Yousfi - author, humorist
• Mustafa Zaidi - poet
• Nasim Amrohvi - Urdu poet, philosopher, and lexicographer
• Obaidullah Aleem - journalist, poet
• Pirzada Qasim - poet, author, educationist
• Qaem Amrohvi - poet, philosopher
• Rais Amrohvi - journalist, poet, psychoanalyst
• Raees Warsi - journalist, author, poet, founder of Urdu Markaz New York
• Sadequain - painter, calligraphist
• Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah - writer, woman activist
• Shaukat Siddiqui - novelist, fiction writer
• Sibte Hassan - author, columnist, activist
• Syed Qasim Mahmood - author, researcher, editor, encyclopedist
• Tabish Dehlvi - poet
• Tanwir Phool - poet and author
• Zahida Hina - columnist, author, poet
• Zaib-un-Nissa Hamidullah - first female columnist of Pakistan
• Zehra Nigah - poet
• Zamir Ali Badayuni - critic

Bankers

• Agha Hasan Abedi - banker and founder of the now-defunct Bank of Credit and Commerce International
• Ishrat Hussain - former Governor State Bank of Pakistan and incumbent Dean of Institute of Business Administration
• Shaukat Aziz - former Prime Minister of Pakistan

Businessmen

• Agha Hasan Abedi - banker, founder of BCCI
• Nasir Schon - Schon Group
• Safi Qureshi - co-founder and CEO of AST Research; born and educated in Karachi; now based in the US
• Siddiq Memon - Chairman Traders Action Committee Pakistan
• Sikandar Sultan, Managing Director of Shan Food Industries

Debaters and orators

• Javed Jabbar - orator, politician, Senator
• Hussain Haqqani - leading Urdu debater, National College, Karachi; Ambassador of Pakistan to U.S.A.
• Raza Rabbani - English debater, politician, Senator

Economists

• Akhtar Hameed Khan - pioneer of microcredit and microfinance in Pakistan, founder of Orangi Pilot Project
• Hammad Siddiqi - economist, banker
• Ishrat Hussain - former Governor State Bank of Pakistan
• Nawab Haider Naqvi - former Director PIDE

Education

• Abul Khair Kashfi - author, critic, linguist, scholar
• Abul Lais Siddiqui - author, critic, linguist, scholar
• Aslam Farrukhi - author, poet, critic, linguist, scholar
• Ata ur Rahman - Chairman HEC, scientist
• Bernadette Louise Dean, former Principal of Kinnaird College, Lahore
• Mary Emily, recipient of the Sitara-e-Imtiaz for services to education
• Farman Fatehpuri - real name: Syed Dildar Ali; author, critic, linguist, scholar
• Ghulam Mustafa Khan - author, critic, linguist, scholar, Sufi
• Hakim Saeed - VC Hamdard University
• Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi - VC Karachi University, author, historian, scholar
• Jameel Jalibi - linguist, scholar
• Audrey Juma, Director of the Notre Dame Institute of Education, Karachi
• Khalida Ghous - human rights activist, scholar
• Oswin Mascarenhas - principal St. Patrick's College 1971–1975 and principal St Patrick's High School 1993–2000
• Moinuddin Aqeel - author, critic, linguist, scholar
• Moonis Ahmar
• Nasim Amrohvi
• Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui - Chancellor Karachi University
• Saleem Ansari, Founder member of Nazeer Hussain University, Karachi.
• Raziuddin Siddiqui - physicist, mathematician, scholar
• Shahid Aziz Siddiqi - former Federal Secretary and Vice Chancellor Ziauddin University
• Talat A. Wizarat

Journalists

• Daniele Mastrogiacomo - Italian journalist born in Karachi
• Kamran Khan
• Mujahid Barelvi

Law and judiciary

• Justice Ajmal Mian - former Chief Justice of Pakistan
• Makhdoom Ali Khan - former Attorney General of Pakistan
• Mohammad Haleem - former Chief Justice of Pakistan
• Naimatullah Khan - advocate
• Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid - former Chief Juystice Sindh High Court & Justice Pakistan Supreme Court of Pakistan
• Nazim Hussain Siddiqui - former Chief Justice of Pakistan
• Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui - former Chief Justice of Pakistan
• Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed - Chief Justice Sind High Court and Judge Supreme Court of Pakistan

Medicine

• Colin Saldanha, Canadian Family Physician of Pakistani origin

Performing arts

Actors and actresses

• Angela Thorne - English actress
• Anwar Maqsood - drama writer, anchor, actor
• Bushra Ansari - television host, actress and producer
• Iqbal Theba - Pakistani-American television actor
• Izhar Qazi - film and TV actor
• Jamshed Ansari - comedian
• Kumail Nanjiani - comedian
• Margaret Lockwood - film and stage actress (1916–1990)
• Moin Akhter - TV, film and stage actor, comedian and host
• Nadeem - film actor
• Nirala - real name: Muzaffar Husain; comedian
• Rahat Kazmi - actor
• Rauf Lala - comedian/actor
• Salim Nasir - comedian/actor
• Sultan Rahi - film actor
• Syed Kamal - film actor
• Umer Sharif - humorous actor
• Waheed Murad - film actor, director, producer
• Zainab Qayyum - model, actress, TV host

Singers and musicians

• Adnan Sami
• Ahmed Jahanzeb
• Alamgir (pop singer)
• Ali Haider
• Bilal Maqsood - pop singer, composer
• Faiz Ahmad Faiz
• Faisal Kapadia - singer
• Faraz Anwar - Guitarist, musician
• Iqbal Bano- Classical singer, ghazal, tuhmri
• Junaid Jamshed
• Junoon (band)
• Lenny Zakatek - English pop and rock star
• Mehdi Hassan - Ghazal singer
• Moin Akhter
• Munni Begum
• Naser Mestarihi - Hard rock musician. Family originally from Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, however they live in Karachi.
• Nazia Hassan - first female pop singer of Pakistan
• Raheem Shah - Pashto, Urdu, Punjabi singer
• Runa Laila- Bengali, Urdu
• Sajjad Ali - pop singer of Pakistan; he also sings classical and semi-classical songs
• Salma Agha
• Salman Ahmad
• Shehzad Roy - singer
• Sohail Rana - composer
• Waqar Ali - singer and musician
• Zeba Bakhtiar
• Zohaib Hassan - part of the first singing duo of the country

Philanthropists and social workers

• Abdul Sattar Edhi - philanthropist and founder of the Edhi Foundation
• Ansar Burney - noted human rights activist and founder of the Ansar Burney Trust
• Bilquis Edhi - philanthropist, founder of the Bilquis Edhi Foundation, wife of Abdul Sattar Edhi
• Fahmida Riaz
• Hakim Said - scholar, philanthropist, former Governor of Sindh
• Nafis Sadik - United Nations

Political leaders and politicians

• Abdul Sattar Afghani - ex-Mayor Karachi Metropolitan City
• Ahmad Noorani Siddiqi - leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan, founder of the World Islamic Mission
• Altaf Hussain - founder and Chairman of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)
• Azeem Ahmed Tariq - former chairman of MQM
• Benazir Bhutto - former Prime Minister
• Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim - Governor, Law Minister, Attorney General
• Farooq Sattar - parliamentary leader of the MQM
• Fatima Jinnah - sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Madar-i-Millet
• Imran Farooq - co-founder of MQM
• Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan - incumbent Governor of Sindh (2002 to present)
• Lal Krishna Advani - leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in India
• Muhammad Ali Jinnah - founder of Pakistan
• Naimatullah Khan - former Mayor of Karachi city
• Pervez Musharraf - General (Retd.) former Army Chief, military dictator and President of Pakistan
• Shahryar Khan - former Foreign Secretary and former Chairman Cricket Board in Pakistan
• Shaukat Aziz - former Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Pakistan
• Syed Munawar Hasan - current Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami
• Syed Mustafa Kamal - former Nazim (Mayor) of Karachi

Religious leaders

• Aga Khan III - Imam Sultan Mohammed Shah - 48th Imam of Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, President League of Nations, President All India Muslim League and GCSI, GCMG
• Joseph Cordeiro - former Archbishop of Karachi
• Muhammad Muslehuddin Siddiqui
• Muhammad Ilyas Qadri - founder of Dawat-e-Islami
• Nasim Amrohvi
• Qazi Hussain Ahmad

Scientists

• Abdul Qadeer Khan - metallurgist and founder of) Pakistan's nuclear programme
• Ahmed Mohiuddin - zoologist
• Atta ur Rahman - chemist
• Muhammad Ali Shah - orthopaedic surgeon
• Pervez Hoodbhoy - nuclear physicist
• Raziuddin Siddiqui - astrophysicist and mathematician
• Salimuzzaman Siddiqui - chemist
• M. Shahid Qureshi - astrophysicist and mathematician
• Ziauddin Ahmed

Sports

Cricketers

• Abdul Kadir
• Anil Dalpat - first Hindu to play for the country
• Asad Shafiq
• Asif Iqbal
• Asim Kamal
• Basit Ali
• Danish Kaneria - second Hindu to play for the country
• Faisal Iqbal
• Fawad Alam
• Hanif Mohammad - first Pakistani batsman to score a triple century
• Iqbal Qasim
• Jalal-ud-Din - in 1982 he took the first hat-trick in an ODI
• Javed Miandad
• Kafeel Jahangir (1971-) - Hertfordshire and Minor Counties cricketer
• Khalid Latif
• Khurram Manzoor
• Mohsin Khan
• Mohammad Sami - right arm fast bowler
• Mushtaq Mohammad
• Rashid Khan
• Rashid Latif
• Saeed Anwar
• Saleem Yousuf
• Sarfraz Ahmed
• Shahid Afridi - world record holder for the fastest ODI century
• Shahzaib Hasan
• Shoaib Mohammad
• Sikandar Bakht
• Tauseef Ahmed
• Moin Khan (cricketer)

Hockey

• Hassan Sardar
• Islahuddin Siddique
• Hanif Khan
• Shahid Ali Khan
• Sohail Abbas

Miscellaneous

• Aamir Liaquat Hussain
• Agha Hilaly
• Arman Sabir
• Asif Mujtaba
• Asim Kamal
• Atiq-uz-Zaman
• Bashir Ahmad
• Behroze Sabzwari
• Chaudhry Muhammad Ali
• Farahnaz Ispahani
• Haroon Rasheed
• Hasan Raza
• Humayun Saeed
• Irfan Yusuf
• Iskander Mirza
• Jahangir Khan
• Kamal Warsi
• Lady Abdullah Haroon
• Muhammad Owais Raza Qadri
• Abdur Rab Nishtar
• Saud (actor)
• Shadab Kabir
• Sohail Abbas
• Tazeen Ahmad
• Wasim Bari
• Yousuf Ludhianvi