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 Pash ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

from 2007 to 2015, previously serving as governor of Baghlan 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 and contains hundreds of v ...

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 r ...

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.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 ...

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. 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 Re ...

. 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, 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 roughl ...

Province, replacing Rahmatullah Rahmat. 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, wh ...

, 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 integrat ...

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