Juma Khan Hamdard ( ps, جمعه خان همدرد ; born 1959) is an

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

politician. He served as the security adviser to President

Ashraf Ghani Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was overthrown by the Taliban. Born in L ...

. He served as governor of

Paktia Province Paktia (Pashto/Dari: – ''Paktyā'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly 6 ...

from 2007 to 2015, previously serving as governor of

Baghlan Baghlan (Dari: بغلان ''Baġlān'') is a city in northern Afghanistan, in the eponymous province, Baghlan Province. It is located three miles east of the Kunduz River, 35 miles south of Khanabad, and about 500 metres above sea level in the ...

and later

Jowzjan Jowzjan, sometimes spelled Jawzjan or Jozjan (Dari: ), is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north of the country bordering neighboring Turkmenistan. The province is divided into 11 Districts of Afghanistan, districts ...

province. He is the head of the alliance of H.A.A Councils.

Early life

Hamdard is an ethnic

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

of the Wardak tribe from

Mazari Sharif , official_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , pushpin_map = Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_label = Mazar-i-Sharif , pushpin ...

. He was born in 1959 in

Balkh Province Balkh (Dari: , ''Balx'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north of the country. It is divided into 15 districts and has a population of about 1,509,183, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a Persian-speaking society. The c ...

.Province: “Paktya”
Naval Postgraduate School, Program for Culture & Conflict Studies

Career

He became a popular leader of the Pashtun community of Balkh and Mazar-i-Sharif. Hamdard was a member of

Hezbi Islami Hezb-e-Islami (also ''Hezb-e Islami'', ''Hezb-i-Islami'', ''Hezbi-Islami'', ''Hezbi Islami''), lit. Islamic Party, was an Islamist organization that was commonly known for fighting the Communist Government of Afghanistan and their close ally ...

and fought against the

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in th ...

under the leadership of

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ( ps, ګلب الدين حكمتيار; born 1 August 1949) is an Afghan politician, former mujahideen leader and drug trafficker. He is the founder and current leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin political party, so calle ...

. In 1994, his Party

allied with

Abdul Rashid Dostum Abdul Rashid Dostum ( ; prs, عبدالرشید دوستم; Uzbek Latin: , Uzbek Cyrillic: , ; born 25 March 1954) is an Afghan exiled politician, former Marshal in the Afghan National Army, founder and leader of the political party Junbish- ...

, an ethnic Uzbek, against the

Shura-e Nazar The Shura-e Nazar ( fa, شوراء نظار) (known as the Supervisory Council of the North) was created by Ahmad Shah Massoud in 1984 at the northern provinces of Takhar, Badakhshan, Balkh and Kunduz, during the Soviet-Afghan War. It compris ...

. In 1997, he helped the Taliban's side against Dostum's forces in a bloody campaign. Following the US-led coalition's invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, Hamdard resumed a weak alliance with Dostum's forces. On the eve of the presidential election in October 2004, he pledged support to

Karzai Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...

. He became governor of Baghlan, and later Jowzjan. Dostum's power base was in the ethnic Uzbek heartland. His Uzbek supporters did not want an ethnic Pashtun as governor. In May 2007 police forces under governor Juma khan Hamdard shot at militant Uzbek demonstrators, while they were trying to force their way into the Governor's office in

Sheberghan Sheberghān or Shaburghān ( Uzbek, Pashto, fa, شبرغان), also spelled ''Shebirghan'' and ''Shibarghan'', is the capital city of the Jowzjan Province in northern Afghanistan. The city of Sheberghan has a population of 175,599. It has four ...

, killing 13 and injuring more than 30. On December 17, 2007, he was appointed governor of

Paktia Paktia (Pashto/Dari: – ''Paktyā'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly 6 ...

Province, replacing

Rahmatullah Rahmat Rahmatullah Rahmat ( ps, رحمت الله رحمت; born 1950) is an Afghan politician. He served as the Governor of Paktia province from 2006 to 2007. He was appointed to the position after the assassination of Hakim Taniwal. Rahmat was previou ...

. Hamdard is one of President Karzai's tribal affairs advisors. Juma Khan Hamdard is an important personality of northern Afghanistan. He has played a pivotal role in safeguarding the interests of the Pashtuns. He enjoys a mass base of support among the Pashtun settlers in the Northern Afghanistan. He was a military commander and politician. Since the fall of the communist regime in 1992, he has trodden a very cautious approach in protecting the interests of Pashtuns in Northern Afghanistan in the wake of rising anti-Pashtun sentiments.

Personal life

He has six sons, the eldest son Gul Rahman Hamdard is a member of the parliament.

References

External links

“Dostum: Afghanistan’s Embattled Warlord”

The Jamestown Foundation The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based conservative defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission today is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, which ...

, April 18, 2008
“Reconstruction Team Serves on Front Line of War on Terror”
American Forces Press Service, February 10, 2009

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

, Institute for War and Peace, September 29, 2009
“Governor of Paktia, Juma Khan Hamdard”

Demotix Demotix was a photo agency that enabled freelance photojournalists to license their photos to mainstream media organisations, charities, and stock image buyers. Initially conceived as a free speech platform to allow local journalists to report t ...

.com, November 15, 2009
“The North on the Brink”
Afghanistan Votes.com, June 15, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamdard, Juma Khan Pashtun people 1954 births Living people Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin politicians Governors of Paktia Province Governors of Jowzjan Province Governors of Baghlan Province People from Balkh Province