Senior Member
Dr. Yasmin Rashid is a senior experienced PTI member from Lahore. She contested her election against Nawaz Sharif in the general elections of 2013 and served as a Punjab Assembly member from 2018 to 2023. She joined the party in 2010 and primarily leads the party in Lahore, Central Punjab and across Punjab as a whole. She was the head of PTI Punjab in 2023 and head of PTI Central Punjab between 2022 and 2023. She is very well-respected for her dedication and experience and holds a top role in the party. She is also a cancer survivor. She remains imprisoned after her unlawful arrest in May 2023.
Before entering politics, she was a skilled gynaecologist and doctor. She is well-educated in gynaecology having recieved her MBBS from the Fatima Jinnah Medical University in Lahore before she moved to the United Kingdom and enrolled in the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists where she received a MRCOG degree in 1989 and a FRCOG degree in 1999. She also received a degree in FCPS from Karachi’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. She has worked at at King Edward Medical University, Rawalpindi Medical University, Fatima Jinnah Medical University and headed the Genealogy department of Central Park Medical College. She is a qualified doctor, surgeon and gynaecologist. She was a member of the Punjab Assembly and Health Minister for Punjab from 2018 to 2023 under PTI.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) acknowledged Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid among one of the outstanding women in leadership during the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. A WHO representative stated, “She has provided great leadership in the crisis and remains on the frontlines of this combat. For the medical fraternity in Pakistan and around the world, Dr Yasmin Rashid stands out as an outstanding individual who has saved thousands of lives through effective leadership. As it is all about leadership and Covid-19, she definitely deserves to acknowledged and honoured.” Dr Yasmin, a retired professor from historical King Edward Medical University Lahore, has been at the forefront of Pakistan’s battle against the pandemic. She is known for effectively leading the Corona Pandemic response in Punjab.
Punjab constitutes 53% of the country’s population and under her leadership, the province managed to keep its numbers to just over 29% of total cases. Under her, the province developed a 1,000-bed field hospital at the Expo centre in Lahore. The province was also able to develop 22 bio-safety level laboratories in her term and established quarantine and isolation facilities in big cities. During her term as minister for health, Punjab introduced typhoid conjugate vaccine in immunisation programme and also introduced SDG-focused development initiatives in the health sector, especially five mother and child hospitals.
She was arrested on May 12, 2023 in a fabricated case of May 9th protests after Imran Khan’s illegal arrest from the Islamabad High Court by Paramilitary forces. Despite the Lahore High Court ordering her release, her arrest was part of an attempt to crack down on PTI using the 9th May False Flag Operation as an excuse. Police also took her close family members into custody, including her husband and brother-in-law. Multiple cases were filed against Dr. Yasmin Rashid, including one for an attack on the Lahore Corps Commander’s residence, despite video evidence showing her stopping people from entering the Corps Commander’s house and urging them to remain peaceful. Even after 14 months of unlawful incarceration, the state has not been able to produce a single piece of evidence against her. She has been released multiple times, but the state concocts new fabricated cases to keep her detained and uses delaying tactics in her court proceedings. Dr. Yasmin Rashid had been transferred to the hospital multiple times after her health condition deteriorated. Despite her incomplete recovery and doctors’ advice to keep her in the hospital, police arrested her again, every time.
She remains jailed to this day exposing the detrimental state of human rights in Pakistan. Despite this brutality and ill-treatment, she remains steadfast in her principles and support for Imran Khan.
Due to being jailed unlawfully, she was forced to run in the elections as an independent candidate representing PTI. She contested against Nawaz Sharif in the 2024 elections and won a sweeping majority from voters in NA-130 Lahore. She managed to defeat a 3-time former prime minister with the mandate of the people, but her seat was blatantly rigged, and was unconstitutionally given to Nawaz Sharif. She remains jailed to this day despite winning her seat and the Courts ordering her release.
