Muhammad Safdar

Lt.Gen. Muhammad Safdar
23rd Governor of Punjab (Pakistan)
In office 21 October 1999 – 29 October 2001
President	General Pervez Musharraf
Preceded by	Zulfiqar Ali Khosa
Succeeded by	Khalid Maqbool
Personal details
Nationality	Pakistani
Political party	Independent (politician)
Alma mater	Military College Jhelum
Profession	Soldier, general
Chief Minister of Punjab (Pakistan)	Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi
Military service
Allegiance	Pakistan
Service/branch	Pakistan Army
Years of service	1960–1989
Rank	Lieutenant-General
Unit	Punjab Regiment
Commands	Command and Staff College 7th Infantry Division National Defence University, Pakistan
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Chief of General Staff Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Post-Retirement Work	Pakistani Ambassador to Morocco vice-chancellor of the Punjab University

Lieutenant General Muhammad Safdar is the former Governor of Punjab, the largest province of Pakistan, having served from 1999 to 2001. A career soldier, he was Chief of General Staff at the GHQ, ambassador to Morocco, vice-chancellor of the Punjab University and then Governor of Punjab.

Army career

Muhammad Safdar belonges to a Rathore Gujjar family and a graduate of Military College Jhelum. Later he joined Pakistan Army. During his military career, Safdar commanded an infantry brigade and the 7th Infantry Division, Peshawar, served as commandant of the Command and Staff College, Quetta from 1982 to 1985 and then reached his professional peak as Chief of General Staff (CGS) in the GHQ having served there from 1986 to 1988. His last military appointment was commandant of the National Defence College from 1988 to 1989. Safdar retired from active service in July 1989.

Political career

Safdar was ambassador to Morocco, vice-chancellor of the Punjab University and then Governor of Punjab. The general stayed as the governor of Punjab till 29 October 2001 when he was replaced by Lahore corps commander Lt Gen Khalid Maqbool.

Views

Brigadier (r) Shaukat Qadir, a political and defence analyst, had this to say about command attributes of Safdar, "In the course of my career I came across very few inspiring senior officers; most noteworthy among them was Lt Gen Safdar, who later became VC Punjab University and, very briefly, Governor Punjab, and whose extraordinary dynamism in peace inspired one to believe that he would be a success in war."^[1]

Brigadier (r) Raja Azizur Rehman, a close friend and colleague of the governor, said this about the new governor when he was appointed in 1999, "he is consistent, professionally very sound, cool and calm. Has immense capacity for work and excels in shifting the essentials. He is soft-spoken and likes to listen, He carries a very happy team. He is very clear about his objectives and leaves no stone unturned to achieve that." The general is reputed to be well versed in the art of getting things done.

References

External links

• Dawn: Governors of four provinces appointed
• Profile of the governor

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