Muhammad Safdar Awan (

Hindko Hindko (, , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern Pun ...

and ; born 19 January 1964) is a Pakistani politician and retired

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

officer who has been a member of the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly of Pakistan, also referred to as ''Aiwān-ē-Zairīñ'', is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate of Pakistan, Senate. As of 2023, the National Assem ...

from June 2008 to May 2018. He is married to the PMLN supremo

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms, first serving from 1990 to 1993, then ...

's daughter

Maryam Nawaz Maryam Nawaz Sharif (born 28 October 1973) is a Pakistani politician who has served as the 20th chief minister of Punjab since 26 February 2024. She is the first woman to hold the position of chief minister in Pakistan. Born to former Prime ...

. Often referred as Captain Safdar by his loyalists and in the media due to his past military career, because of his critical stance on

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

, his vocal support of

Mumtaz Qadri Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri (1985 – 29 February 2016), better known as Mumtaz Qadri (, ), was a Pakistani Elite Police commando who is known for murdering Salmaan Taseer, Governor of Punjab, Pakistan, Governor of Punjab. Qadri was a commando ...

and his repeated statements targeting the

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ), is an Islamic messianic movement originating in British India in the late 19th century. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed a ...

movement, he's generally considered to be a far-right politician.

Early and personal life

According to

PILDAT Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency, or commonly called Pildat, is a Pakistani think tank which promotes democracy. Pildat is an independent, Nonprofit organization, non-profit oriented think tank that mainly focuses ...

, Safdar was born on 19 January 1963. According to ''

The News International ''The News International'', published in broadsheet size, is one of the largest English language newspapers in Pakistan. It is published daily from Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/ Islamabad. An overseas edition is published from London th ...

'' and ''Dawn'', he was born on 19 January 1964. Safdar belongs to a traditionally

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

family and his father Muhammad Ishaq, who passed away in 2014, was a writer, being a poet and an essayist specialized in Islamic affairs. His father was also the General Secretary of the UC Garhi Habibullah. Safdar was raised in the house of Naseem Khan khankheil, a Khan of

Garhi Habibullah Garhi Habibullah is a town and union council (an administrative subdivision) of Mansehra District in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located in Balakot Tehsil and lies to the east of district capital Mansehra, towards the Kashmi ...

and tribal chief of Swatis. His elder brother Sajjad Awan is also a politician. He also has a younger brother, Tahir Awan. He joined the

after completing his early education. Safdar married

in 1992 while he was serving as captain in the Pakistan Army and has been the

ADC ADC may refer to: Aviation * ADC Aircraft, a British firm established in 1920 * ADC Airlines, based in Ikeja, Nigeria * Aerospace Defense Command, of the U.S. Air Force * Air data computer, an essential avionics component found in modern glass coc ...

during the latter's tenure as Prime Minister of Pakistan. After retiring from the Pakistan Army as captain he joined the civil services and was posted as Lahore Model Town assistant commissioner.

Political career

Safdar joined politics after returning to Pakistan in 2007 along with the

Sharif family The Sharif family is a List of Pakistani political families, Pakistani political family of Kashmiris in Punjab, Punjabi–Kashmiri background. Playing a prominent role in Politics of Pakistan, Pakistani politics, especially in Punjab, Pakistan, ...

. He was elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

as a candidate of

Pakistan Muslim League (N) The Pakistan Muslim League (N) or (PML(N)) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right, Conservatism in Pakistan, conservative political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third-largest party in the Senate of Pakistan, Senate and the larges ...

(PML-N) from Constituency NA-52 (Rawalpindi-III) in the by-election held in June 2008. He received 54,917 votes and defeated a candidate of

Pakistan Muslim League (Q) The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid e Azam Group) ; ''Pākistān Muslim Līg (Qāf)'', Acronyms: PML(Q), PML-Q, PMLQ, "Q League" (officially registered as the Pakistan Muslim League) is a political party in Pakistan. As of the 2024 parliamentary e ...

. The seat was vacated by

Nisar Ali Khan Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan (; born 31 July 1954) is a Pakistani politician who served as the Interior Minister from 2013 to 2017. He had been a member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from August 2018 till January 2023. He however was uns ...

. In 2011, Safdar was made the chief organiser of the PML-N Youth Wing. In 2012, he was suspended from PML-N for verbally abusing leaders of PML-N. Safdar was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-21 (Mansehra-cum-Tor Ghar) in the

2013 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on Saturday 11 May 2013 to elect the members of the List of members of the 14th National Assembly of Pakistan, 14th National Assembly of Pakistan, National Assembly and the four Subdivisions of Pakistan, Pr ...

. He received 91,013 votes and a candidate of

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan also known the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam or simply as Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) (; ; JUI (F)) is an Islamic fundamentalist political party in Pakistan. Established as the ''Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam'' in 1945, it is th ...

. In May 2016, Safdar was reported to the

Election Commission of Pakistan The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is an independent, autonomous, permanent and constitutionally established federal body responsible for organizing and conducting elections to the national parliament, provincial legislatures, local g ...

(ECP) by

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

for concealing Maryam Nawaz’ assets. He denied it, however he was still summoned by ECP in June 2016. In June 2018, he was allocated PML-N ticket to contest the 2018 general election from Constituency NA-14 (Mansehra-cum-Torghar). In July 2018, he was sentenced to one-year jail term in the Avenfield corruption reference filed by the

National Accountability Bureau The National Accountability Bureau (; abbreviated NAB) is Pakistan's anti-corruption agency. Its chairman is Nazir Ahmed Butt, a retired general. History The Ehtesab Act, 1997 established an Ehtesab Cell, charged with the investigation and pr ...

. As a result, he was disqualified from contesting election for 10 years. The next day, he arrived in Rawalpindi and surrendered to the authorities. In September 2018, he was released on bail over the Avenfield corruption charges. On 19 October 2020, Safdar was arrested from a Karachi hotel for “violating the sanctity of Quaid's mausoleum” and was released on bail the same day.

Political views

Opposition to secularism

Safdar has been called "a vocal critic of

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

politicians."

Blasphemy law

In 2012, he publicly supported Islamic fundamentalist

who assassinated former Governor of Punjab

Salmaan Taseer Salman Taseer (; 4 January 2011) was a Pakistani businessman and politician, who served as the 34th Governor of Punjab from 2008 until his assassination in 2011. A member of the Pakistan Peoples Party since the 1980s, he was elected to the ...

for speaking against the

blasphemy law A blasphemy law is a law prohibiting blasphemy, which is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of Reverence (attitude), reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. According to Pew Re ...

Ahmadiyya community

He has often voiced his concerns against the

community in Pakistan and called for a ban on hiring Ahmadis in the armed forces and other important institutions of the country. He has been criticized for his statements against Ahmaddiya community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Safdar Awan, Muhammad Living people 1963 births Hindkowan people Pakistani Islamists Pakistani far-right politicians Pakistan Army officers Pakistani MNAs 2008–2013 Pakistani MNAs 2013–2018 Pakistani prisoners and detainees Pakistani expatriates in Saudi Arabia Pakistan Muslim League (N) MNAs Critics of Ahmadiyya Pakistani politicians convicted of crimes