Naseerullah Babar

Major-General Naseerullah Khan Babar
Naseerullah Babar (1928–2011)
29th Minister of Internal Security
In office 21 October 1993 – 5 November 1996
President	Farooq Leghari
Prime Minister	Benazir Bhutto
Preceded by	Fateh Khan Bandial
Succeeded by	Omar Khan Afridi
12th Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province
In office 1 March 1976 – 6 July 1977
President	Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry
Preceded by	Syed Ghawas
Succeeded by	Abdul Hakeem Khan
Personal details
Born	1928 Pirpiai, North West Frontier Province, British India
Died	10 January 2011[1] Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province
Resting place	Pirpiai, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan
Nationality	Pakistani
Political party	Pakistan Peoples Party
Alma mater	Presentation Convent School, Peshawar Pakistan Military Academy, Dehra Dun, Burn Hall
Occupation	Military administrator
Profession	Politician
Cabinet	Zulfikar Bhutto Government Bainazir Bhuttoo Government
Awards	Sitara-e-Jurat (1971) Hilal-i-Jur'at (1973)
Military service
Allegiance	Pakistan
Service/branch	Pakistan Army
Years of service	1948–1974
Rank	Major General
Unit	Pakistan Army Artillery Corps
Commands	23 Division, Jehlum IG Frontier Corps DG Military Intelligence
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Major-General Naseerullah Khan Babar (Urdu: نصيرالله خان بابر; born 1928—10 January 2011) was Minister of Internal Security of Pakistan. He is also famous because of Operation against MQM in Karachi. He was a retired 2-star general officer in the Pakistan Army, and later career military officer-turned statesman from, the Pakistan Peoples Party. In 1975, Babar took early voluntarily retirement from the Pakistan Army to become Governor of NWFP. He joined the Pakistan Peoples Party after Bhutto's government was dismissed in 1977. A leading member of Pakistan People's Party, Babar was born in Pirpiai, North-West Frontier Province, British Indian Empire. His family is from the Babar tribe of Pakhtuns and hails from the village of Pirpiai in district Nowshera.

Having started his military career in 1948, Babar rose to become a 2-star general and led Frontier Corps as its Commandant in 1974. During 1974, Babar was tasked to fund and train Afghan mujahidin, by the order of Bhutto, to suppress the government of Davood Khan, and disbandment of Pashtunistan policies led by the government of Davood Khan. This operation was a complete and ultimate success after which Baber proceeded to retire from the army, in order to start his career in politics. However, the operation took a new direction when he became Governor of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from 1975 to 1977 under Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's government until the term was cut short due to Operation Fair Play— a clandestine operation undertaken to remove Bhutto. In 1988, Babar was the "Special Advisor/Assistant on Internal Affairs" in Benazir Bhutto's first government and between 1993 and 1996, Babar was appointed and tenured as the Interior Minister during Benazir Bhutto's second government where he supervised and successfully contended Operation Blue Fox.

Early education

Babar's early education was from Presentation Convent School, Peshawar, North West Frontier Province, British India, between 1935 and 1939. From 1939 to 1941he attended Burn Hall School then located at Srinagar. The school was subsequently shifted to Abbottabad after the Partition of India in 1947. He also attended Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College in Dheradun and joined the Pakistan Army in 1948. He was part of the first PMA long course which graduated in 1950.

Army career and Indo-Pakistani Wars

In his long career in the Army, Babar served in the Artillery Corps and pioneered the Army Aviation Corps. During the 1965 war with India, Pakistan claims that Babar single handedly captured an entire Indian company of soldiers (over 70 POWs) and was awarded Sitara-e-Jurat for this action.

In the 1971 war, he commanded an artillery brigade supporting 23 Division and later commanded an infantry brigade until he was wounded and evacuated from the battlefield. He also had the distinction of having been awarded SJ & Bar. In 1972, he was appointed Inspector General Frontier Corps. He resigned from the Army in 1974 while commanding an infantry division and was appointed as Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Joining the PPP

Babar joined the Pakistan People's Party (the PPP) in 1977 after the arrest of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. He famously threw away his Hilal i Jurat (with bar) and other army medals at the presiding officer of a military tribunal, when Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged by the military regime of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in 1979.

Interior Minister 1993–1996

In 1988, Babar was a Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto and successfully ran the election for Begum Nusrat Bhutto from Chitral during the preceding elections.

Elected in the 1993 general election on a People's Party Ticket from Nowshera, he defeated Awami National Party President Ajmal Khattak, with the PPP's victory in the election and was appointed Federal Minister for the Interior by Benazir Bhutto.

General Naseerullah Babar was one of the major proponents of backing what eventually became the Taliban.

General Babar was also involved in a crackdown on MQM. He became famous after being involved in cleanup of Extra judicial killers in Karachi during the famous operation.

1997 and onwards

After the dismissal of Benazir Bhutto's second government by Farooq Leghari, Babar contested the 1997 elections again from Nowshera as well as from Karachi. He was defeated in Nowshera by ANP candidate Wali Muhammad Khan and from Karachi by Nawaz Sharif's nominee Ejaz Shafi.

Contesting again in the 2002 general elections he was defeated in the electoral sweep of the religo-political alliance the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, mainly due to Musharaff's goals of bringing Islamists in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan to power.

In October 2007, he left the Pakistan Peoples Party due to his disagreement with Benazir Bhutto over her support for General Pervez Musharraf. This action was considered as a major blow for the Pakistan Peoples Party because he was their major political leader in the Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa.

Death

On 19 August 2008, Naseerullah Babar suffered a mild stroke and was admitted to a hospital. He recovered and returned home in November 2008. Naseerullah Babar died on 10 January 2011.^[1]

References

1. "Former interior minister Naseerullah Babar dies". Dawn. 10 January 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2011.

External links

• Remembering our Warriors: Babar “the great”. (April 2001) Defence Journal.