LONDON, Nov 14: Aitzaz Ahsan, a leading Pakistani lawyer and politician, has been selected for an honorary fellowship by Downing College, University of Cambridge.

An alumnus of the college, Ahsan studied law at Downing in the 1960s, and was called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn in 1967.

After his return to Pakistan, he developed an internationally respected legal practice while also pursuing political career as a member of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). He was the Leader of Opposition in the Senate from 1994-1999.

Mr Ahsan has been a leading advocate of human rights and the rule of law and defended in the court two former prime ministers — Benazir Bhutto of the PPP and Nawaz Sharif of the PML-N.

He was a founder member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and his writings have contributed to scholarship on Pakistan and democracy.

Mr Ahsan is the author of ‘The Indus Saga’ and also ‘Divided by Democracy’, written with Meghnad Desai of the London School of Economics.

A university release said that Master and Fellows of Downing College, in honouring the achievements of Mr Ahsan and his contribution to Pakistan, hoped that the chief justice would be reinstated and the rule of law would be re-established in the country.