Jahangir Siddiqui
Pakistani businessman From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jahangir Siddiqui (Sindhi: جھانگير صديقي) is a Pakistani businessman and founder of Jahangir Siddiqui & Co. and JS Bank.[1]
On May 15, 1962, with the support of his family, Siddiqui became a local distributor of ice cream and Coca-Cola.[2] In 1966, he completed a bachelor's degree in commerce, and began training as a chartered accountant in 1967.[2] His interest in stock markets eventually led him to start his own company in October 1971.[3] In 1971, Siddiqui founded Jahangir Siddiqui & Co. Ltd, which by growth and acquisition eventually became the JS Group of companies.[3]
To raise money to start the company after his father's initial refusal to lend him Rs 6,000 to start a business, Siddiqui secretly stole and sold his family's car to a junk dealer for Rs1,800, along with the family's two-year stock of wheat and coal, all of which were stored in the family's house at the time.[3] When discussing this start as a businessman, Siddiqui said, "Positive thinking distinguishes an entrepreneur from the rest of the crowd. He’s never deterred by difficult circumstances.”[3] By the time he retired from the company in 2003, JS Group comprised a range of businesses with over 18,000 employees.[3]
Siddiqui and his wife Mahvash went on to found the Mahvash & Jahangir Siddiqui Foundation, a charitable, non-profit organization[4] focusing on healthcare, education, sustainable development through social enterprise and emergency relief in Pakistan.[5]
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In December 2010, Siddiqui was placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) for alleged land grabbing in Karachi which alleged that Jahangir Siddiqui had illegally occupied a plot of 1,000 square yards in Karachi in connivance with the owner of an estate agency, using forged documents.[6][7] Additional Executive District Officer (AEDO) Revenue Mustafa Jamal Qazi maintained that it had become a practice that land that was awarded to the government was being grabbed by "land mafia...for its vested interests."[6] Pakistan's Anti-Corruption Establishment arrested several in conjunction with the case in December.[8]
Siddiqui sued a group of individuals, including the Anti-Corruption Establishment director and a member of EDO Revenue for defamation, indicating that the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee had evaluated land in 2001 and found the ownership of the property legal.[9] In response to the defamation claim, the Sindh High Court issued notices to the defendants, and they were summoned to appear before the court on 5 January 2011.[10] The court issued a restraining order preventing the defendants from "media attack" pending settlement of the matter.[9] The Pakistan Observer characterised these events as a "character assassination campaign" against Siddiqui.[11]
On 29 November 2011 the court ruled that the allegations were "false and baseless" and that such cases should not be filed in the future.[12]
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He is a Sindhi from Dadu City his family moved to Hyderabad later, he is the brother of the television director, producer and businessperson Sultana Siddiqui,[13] and the uncle of her son, businessman Shunaid Qureshi.[14] Jehangir Siddiqui's son Ali Jehangir Siddiqui is also involved in the family's businesses. Another son is married with Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman's daughter.[15]
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