Farhatullah Babar (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...

: ) is a Pakistani

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

politician, engineer and former senator. He is a prominent member of the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded i ...

(PPP), having served as a spokesperson for the party. He is a supporter of the

Pashtun Tahafuz Movement The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM; ps, پښتون ژغورنې غورځنګ ''Paṣtūn Zhghōrənē Ghōrźang''; ur, , lit=Pashtun Protection Movement) is a social movement for Pashtun human rights based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochista ...

(PTM). He remained a member of the

Senate of Pakistan Senate of Pakistan or Aiwān-e-Bālā Pākistān ( ur, , , literally "Pakistan upper house"), is the upper legislative chamber of the bicameral legislature of Pakistan, and together with the National Assembly makes up the Parliament of Pakist ...

for two terms, from 2003 to 2006 and from 2012 to 2018.

Background and professional career

Babar was born to Karamatullah Khan. He graduated with a B.Eng. in civil engineering from the

University of Peshawar The University of Peshawar ( ps, د پېښور پوهنتون; hnd, پشور یونیورسٹی; ur, ; abbreviated UoP; known more popularly as Peshawar University) is a public research university located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...

in 1965, followed by a M.Eng. in civil engineering in 1985. In 1963, he completed a course in

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...

with honours and later undertook a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

language course in 1981. Babar worked as a chemical engineer. He served as the president of the Pakistan Engineering Council from 1983 to 1994, and also worked for some time at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. He also served as a manager in the Trans Arabia project with the Royal Saudi Air Force, based in Riyadh.

Political career

Babar served as a spokesman and speech writer for

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...

when she was in office as

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

in the 1990s. Later, he also served as the press secretary of her husband,

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakist ...

, when he was elected as Pakistan's

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

in 2008. Prior to this appointment, Babar was elected as a member of the

from PPP between 2003 and 2006. He served another term as senator from 2012 to 2018. He is regarded as a senior member among the PPP's leadership. As a senator, Babar was known for his activism and legislative work relating to human rights, democracy, religious freedom, political transparency, provincial autonomy, and matters involving civil-military relations. He was the

managing editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edit ...

of the Peshawar-based English daily, ''

The Frontier Post ''The Frontier Post'' is an independent English language daily newspaper founded in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 1985. It publishes from Peshawar, Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, and Quetta. History When the paper was founded in 1985, there were no pr ...

''. On 17 September 2007, Benazir Bhutto accused then-president

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...

's allies of pushing Pakistan into crisis by refusing to restore democracy and sharing power. A nine-member panel of

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

judges deliberated on six petitions seeking to disqualify Musharraf as a presidential candidate. Bhutto had stated that her party may join forces with other opposition parties, including

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pak ...

's. The

Attorney General of Pakistan The Attorney-General for Pakistan is the chief law officer and legal advisor of the Government of Pakistan and enjoys rights of audience before Parliament. The Attorney-General, who serves as Pakistan's public prosecutor, is nominated by the Prime ...

, Malik Mohammad Qayyum, stated that, ''

pendente lite ''Pendente lite'' is a Latin term meaning "awaiting the litigation" or "pending the litigation" which applies to court orders which are in effect while a matter (such as a divorce) is pending. In divorce a ''pendente lite'' order is often used to ...

'', the

Election Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

was "reluctant" to announce the schedule for the presidential vote. Babar stated that the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

could bar Musharraf from being elected again because he also held the army chief's post: "As General Musharraf is disqualified from contesting for President, he has prevailed upon the Election Commission to arbitrarily and illegally tamper with the Constitution of Pakistan." In May 2018, Babar was one of the 30 people nominated by the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) for a ''

jirga A jirga ( ps, جرګه, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethni ...

'', which was held to negotiate between the PTM and the Pakistani government. His nomination was requested by the PTM leader

Manzoor Pashteen Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen (Pashto: منظور احمد پښتين, Urdu: منظور احمد پشتین) is a Pakistani Pashtun human rights activist from South Waziristan. He is the chairman of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). ("Pashtun Protectio ...

during his phone call with the PPP chairman

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Bilawal Bhutto Zardari ( ur, بلاول بھٹو زرداری; born 21 September 1988) is a Pakistani politician who is serving as the 37th Minister of Foreign Affairs, in office since 27 April 2022. He became the chairman of Pakistan Peop ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Babar, Farhatullah Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Pakistan People's Party politicians Pakistani chemical engineers Pakistani civil engineers Pakistani democracy activists Pakistani expatriates in Saudi Arabia Pakistani human rights activists Pakistani senators (14th Parliament) Pashtun people People from Peshawar Project-706 Speechwriters University of Peshawar alumni