Shafqat Mahmood

Shafqat Mahmood (Punjabi, ; 19 February 1950) is a retired Pakistani bureaucrat-turned-politician who served as the Federal Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training, and Federal Minister for National History and Literary Heritage, from 20 August 2018 to 3 April 2022. Before going into politics, he served as a grade 20 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service.

He was elected a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan in 2013 and 2018. He has been a member of the Senate of Pakistan from March 1994 to March 2000. He served as Federal Minister for the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, the Ministry of Environment, Urban Affair Forestry and Wildlife, and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Malik Meraj Khalid from November 1996 to February 1997. He served as Provincial Minister of Punjab for Information from 1999 to 2000 during the military rule of Pervez Musharraf. He is no longer Member of the National Assembly as he resigned from the National Assembly.

Early life and education He was born on 19 February 1950. Belonging to a Gujjar family, his cousins include Zaka Ashraf, associated with the PPP and who also served as the PCB chairman, as well Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal Gujjar, a senior PML-N politician.

He completed his early education at Sadiq Public School, Bahawalpur, and later studied in the Government College University, Lahore before completing his Masters in Psychology from University of the Punjab in 1970. He received a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University in 1981.

His daughter Tara Mahmood is an actress and singer.

Early career He started his career by joining the Pakistan Administrative Service cadre of the civil bureaucracy in 1973. He served as Assistant Commissioner of Murree and Pakpatan from 1975 to 1978.

He was elected to the Senate of Pakistan as a candidate of PPP from Islamabad in March 1994. He remained a member of the Senate until March 2000.

He became part of the military government setup following the 1999 Pakistani coup d'état and served as Provincial Minister of Punjab for Information from 1999 to 2000. and used to criticize the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its chief Imran Khan.

He joined PTI in November 2011 He received 97,933 votes and defeated Khawaja Ahmad Hassan, a candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N).

In November 2015, he resigned from the post of PTI organizer in Lahore after the party's poor performance in local government elections held in October 2015. In May 2017, he became central information secretary of PTI.

On 18 August, Imran Khan formally announced his federal cabinet structure and Mahmood was named as Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training and Minister for National History and Literary Heritage. On 20 August 2018, he was sworn in as a Federal Minister in the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

On 15 November 2019, he was elected as the President of UNESCO's Education Commission.

Writings He has written numerous articles as well government reports, including Devolving the State: A Model for Empowering the People in 2000.