Nafees Fazal

Nafees Fazal is an Indian politician who was the first Muslim woman to hold a ministerial post in South India. She was, at first, the minister of medical education and later became the minister of science & technology during the Krishna ministry in Karnataka. She was elected as a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council for two terms, from 1994 to 2006.

Early life

Nafees Fazal was born on 4 November 1947. She is the granddaughter of Khan Bahadur Mohammed Moosa Sait, a former sheriff of Chennai. She went to a boarding school in Lovedale and Yercaud.

In 1983, she unsuccessfully contested the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike municipal elections from the Shivajinagar ward on a Congress ticket. Her political mentor was Margaret Alva. She was the president of the Bangalore wing of the Mahila Congress.
In 1994, she was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Council and was an MLC until 2006. During the Krishna ministry, she served as the Minister of Medical Education and the Minister of Science & Technology.

In 1964, she married Hassan Fazal, whose family owned the Fazal's clothing store on Commercial [Street, Bengaluru]. They had 2 daughters. Her daughter, Nooraine Fazal is the CEO and Co-founder of Inventure Academy and a core committee member of the Bangalore [Political Action Committee].