Abdul Rashid Godil was born in Karachi on September 7, 1960, and belongs to the business-savvy Memon community.
He started working for social causes in 1985, and actively strived towards resolving issues faced by the people of the city.
In 1991, Godil was elected as a member of the All Pakistan Memon Federation (APMF). Three years later, he was elected as the President of the Dhoraji Association. As president of the association, he furthered the commercial interests of his community and handled all affairs related to commercial stakeholders in the area.
Godil stepped into the political arena in 2005. The same year, with the help and support of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), he became Union Council Nazim.
Read: MQM's Rashid Godil critical after Karachi attack
During the 2008 general election, he was elected a member of the national assembly (MNA) on an MQM ticket from NA-252, Karachi. He retained his NA membership from the same constituency in the 2013 general election.
He has also been a member of MQM’s Karachi Rabita Committee since November 2013. Godil presents somewhat a softer image of the party whose activists have in the past been accused of strong-armed tactics.
He was among at least 11 key members of the MQM in Karachi who had claimed to have received extortion letters from the TTP in October 2014.
As an MNA, he is a member of two standing committees – Finance, and Revenue and Textile. He is also MQM’s deputy parliamentary leader in the lower house.
Godil, is often also seen as a vocal critic of the government, judging by the speeches he has made on the house’s floor.
The MQM, which portrays itself as a secular champion of Pakistan's middle class working against feudalism, dominates Karachi's politics.
The party has been the target of several bomb and gun attacks by Taliban militants in the past, with at least three MQM leaders killed in such attacks
Godil was shot five times and was critically injured on August 18, 2015, after which he underwent emergency surgery at a private hospital. He is currently undergoing medical treatment at the Intensive Care Unit of Karachi’s Liaquat National Hospital where doctors have termed the next 24 hours crucial as his life hangs in the balance.
