Shahbaz Gill

Shahbaz Gill
Chief of Staff To Imran Khan
In office 12 April 2022 – 22 August 2022[1]
President	Arif Alvi
Prime Minister	Imran Khan
Preceded by	Naeemul Haque
Succeeded by	Shibli Faraz
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communication
In office 13 May 2020 – 3 April 2022
Spokesperson of the Government of Punjab
In office 2018–2019
Governor	Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar
Chief Minister	Usman Buzdar
Succeeded by	Aun Chaudhry[2]
Personal details
Born	Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
Political party	PTI (2018-present)
Alma mater	PhD University of Malaya

Muhammad Shahbaz Shabbir Gill (Urdu: محمد شہبازشبیرگل), commonly known as Shahbaz Gill (Urdu: شہباز گل), is a Pakistani-American academic, lecturer, politician, former provincial spokesperson to the Government of Punjab, Pakistan, and former Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) of Pakistan to Imran Khan. He was a member of the Imran Khan cabinet from 13 May to 3 April 2022.^[3] Currently he is the Chief of Staff of former Prime Minister Imran Khan following Khan's removal from office in April 2022.^[4]

Early life and education

Gill was born into a Punjabi Jat family in Faisalabad and received his early education there. He then pursued higher education abroad. He received a Ph.D. in Management and Leadership from the University of Malaya in 2008. He started his teaching career in 2004 and has been a part of the faculty of Quaid-i-Azam University and International Islamic University, Islamabad, before finally moving to COMSATS University, Lahore. At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he worked as an Assistant Professor of Business Administration.^[5]

Career

Academic

Gill has been an assistant professor of business administration at International Islamic University, Islamabad for sometime, he resigned due to issues with the administration. Gill has been an assistant professor of business administration at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign but was fired recently. ^{[6][citation needed]} https://www.iiu.edu.pk

Political

Gill was appointed as a spokesperson for the Chief Minister of Punjab, Pakistan, Usman Buzdar in 2018. In March 2019, Buzdar appointed him to inspect the government institutions and offices on his behalf.^[7] He resigned from the post of spokesperson on 13 September 2019.^[8]

Arrest

On 9 August 2022, Gill was arrested on charges of sedition for allegedly trying to incite Pakistani army officers to mutiny. Gill was reportedly "dragged out of his vehicle" before being taken into custody. Gill was arrested for statements he made on ARY News on 8 August about alleged rifts within Pakistan's military over Imran Khan's ouster from office during the no-confidence motion in April 2022.^[9]

Gill testified in court that he had been on a hunger strike for four days and was not allowed to change his clothes and take a bath. Shahbaz's request for judicial remand was denied and police granted his requested two-day physical remand. While in custody, he and his party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, claimed that he was sexually assaulted. However, in a written statement submitted before the court, Gill stated that he hadn't been sexually assaulted by the police while in detention, though he still said that he was subjected to torture by investigators. Lawyers for Gill submitted a medical report by doctors of Central Jail Rawalpindi in which they declared that Gill was tortured.^[10]

On 15 September 2022, Gill was released from Central Jail Rawalpindi on bail.^[11]

Selected publications

Some of the publications he authored or co-authored include:^[12]

Articles

• Ur Rehman, A., & Gill, S. (2010). The relationship between religiosity and new product adoption. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 1 (1), 63-69.
• Shahbaz, M., & Gill, S. (2012). Military Spending and Economic Growth in Pakistan: New Evidence from Rolling Window Approach. Economic Research, 25 144-159.
• Shahbaz, M., Afza, T., & Gill, S. (2012). Does Defence Spending Impede Economic Growth? Cointegration and Causality Analysis for Pakistan. Defense and Peace Economics, 24 (2), 105-120.
• Shahbaz, M., Sherafatian-Jahromi, R., Malikk, M., & Gill, S. (2015). Linkages between Defense Spending and Income Inequality in Iran Quality & Quantity, Springer, 50 1317–1332.
• Shahbaz, M., Gill, S., & Butt, M. (2016). Does Military Spending Explode External Debt in Pakistan? Defense and Peace Economics, 718-741.

Presentations

• Shahbaz, M., Gill, S., Malik, M., & Wolters, M. (2013). Does Terrorism Impede Private Investment in Pakistan. 17th Annual Western Hemisphere Trade Conference: Western Hemisphere Meets Eastern Hemisphere: Trade.
• Gill, S. (2017). Do Online Learning Platforms Truly Provide Convenience and Flexibility? The Munich International Academic Conference on Education & Social Sciences.

Working papers

• Wang, W., & Gill, S. Trust as a Mediator for the Effect of Organizational Justice: What do the Multifoci and Cultural Approaches.

References

1. "Pakistan: Imran Khan appoints Senator Shibli Faraz as chief of staff".
2. "Shahbaz Gill resigns as CM's spokesperson, Awn Chaudhry replaces him". September 13, 2019.
3. "Dr. Shahbaz Gill becomes active for PTI govt's image building". The Nation. February 10, 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
4. "Shahbaz Gill made Imran Khan's chief of staff". 24 News HD. April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
5. "DR. Shahbaz Gill Biography, Age, Wife, Nationality & Career". Mag Pakistan. July 18, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
6. "Shahbaz Gill Profile". Gies College of Business. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
7. Malik, Mansoor (April 1, 2019). "Punjab CM spokesperson's new role smacks of political wrangling". Dawn. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
8. "Shahbaz Gill steps down as spokesperson to Punjab CM | Pakistan Today". Pakistan Today. September 13, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
9. "Police Arrest Close Aide to Ex-Pakistan PM Khan on Sedition Charges". Voice of America. August 9, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
10. "'It's true', Shahbaz Gill endorses Imran's claims of sexual assault in custody hours after denial". The Nation. August 23, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
11. "Shahbaz Gill released from Adiala Jail". Dunya News. September 15, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
12. "Profile at the University of Illinois's Gies College of Business". Retrieved June 8, 2023.