Ghulam Mohammad Farhad (1901–1984) was an

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

He lived in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

on a royal scholarship from 1921 to 1928, training as an

electrician An electrician is a tradesman, tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the ...

at the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

. During his studies in Germany, he came in contact with

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

policy and became fascinated by some aspects of it.Th. Ruttig, ''"Afghanistan's Political Parties and where they come from (1902-2006)"'',

Konrad Adenauer Stiftung The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (''German: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: KAS'') is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's headq ...

, Germany; with references to Abdulhamid Mubarez, ''Tahlil-e waqe’at.e siasi-ye Afghanistan 1919-1996'', Kabul, 1996: ''"... In 1948, Farhad was the first elected mayor of Kabul. From 1934, he had studied in Nazi Germany and was fascinated by some aspects of its policy. ..."'';
PDF
) After he returned to Afghanistan, Farhad was appointed to several electricity-related posts in the government, finally serving as president of the Kabul Electric Company from 1939 to 1966. He traveled to Germany in 1947 to acquire equipment; he was often accused of favoring German-manufactured products. From 1948 to 1954, he was mayor of

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

. He notably installed the city's first traffic lights and declared a switch to right-hand driving. In 1966, Farhad created the

Afghan Social Democratic Party The Afghan Social Democratic Party (, ''Âfgan-e Tewâlnupal-e Wâlsuakâiz-e Gund''), more commonly known as the Afghan Mellat Party ( – ''Afğān Mellat Gund''; ''"Afghan Nation Party"'') or simply the Afghan Mellat, is a Pashtun nationalism, ...

(also known as ''Afghan Mellat'' or "Afghan Nation") on the bases of Pashtun nationalism and pashtunization of multi ethnic

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

where non-pashtuns make the overall majority. He was elected to Parliament, representing the sixth district of Kabul, in 1968, but resigned his seat in 1970.

References

External links

* ''Afghan Mellat'' official biography of Ghulam Mohammad Farha

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farhad, Ghulam Mohammad 1901 births 1984 deaths Pashtun academics Pashtun nationalists Mayors of Kabul Afghan Millat Party politicians Members of the House of the People (Afghanistan) Technical University of Munich alumni Mayors of places in Afghanistan Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Afghan expatriates in Germany Pashtun politicians