LAHORE - “You want justice? I will appoint Jehangir Badr the chief justice of Pakistan. He will dispense justice”. This is how slain PPP leader Mohtarma Benazira Bhutto once told her political opponents during her first term as prime minister.

Though Benazir Bhutto had made this comment in a lighter vein, but it was reflective of the importance she would give to a party jiayala always ready to sacrifice his life for the Bhuttos. Badr remained a member of her kitchen cabinet till her death.

A jiayala to the core, Jehangir Badr stood by the party in difficult times. He was one of the PPP activists who faced confinement at Lahore Fort after the military coup of 1977. The late Badr will be remembered for his commitment to the party and loyalty to the leadership. He led the party as secretary general for over a decade. This is the second most prestigious office in the PPP organization after that of the chairman.

A veteran PPP leader, Altaf Qureshi, remembers him as a great party organizer, a man who would organize important party events taking everybody on board.

Benazir Bhutto made him party’s Punjab president twice. He was leading the party in Punjab when Benazir Bhutto was given a historic welcome in Lahore after she returned from exile in April 1986. Many believe no other leader ever received such a grand reception on return from abroad. Badr was the driving force in organizing this event.

He did a massive fund-raising for the event. He even received funds from Nawaz Sharif who was the Punjab finance minister at that time. This was the time when Muhammad Khan Junejo was the prime minister. There was no political rivalry between Benazir Bhutto and the Sharifs as the later were yet to lead a party of their own.

His detractors in the PPP would often criticize him for his close affinity with the Sharifs. But he never betrayed the party leadership even in the trying times. 

Former President Asif Ali Zardari remembers him as a “genuine political worker, a committed democrat and a great Bhutto loyalist” who was an inspiration for political workers anywhere and at any time.

After having worked with three generations of Bhuttos, Badr felt isolated in last few years. In the company of his close friends, he would complain he was being ignored by the present leadership.

On the other hand, his commitment to the party leadership was so strong that he was awarded PhD for his work on the political philosophy and struggle of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto only a couple of years back.  He also wrote some books on politics.

In his university days, he emerged as a prominent student leader though he lost the students union election to Islami Jamiat-e- Talba leader in the late 1960s. Jehangir Badr also taught commerce for a few years after doing M.Com from Hailey College of Commerce affiliated with the Punjab University.

He was among a group of students who joined the ranks of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto after meeting him in Lahore. However, he rose to prominence after the hanging of ZA Bhutto.

His humility won him a good number of friends in the party and outside it. He was widely respected in political circles irrespective of party affiliations. Badr never tried to change his Lahori accent throughout his life. 

He was born to a poor family inside the walled City of Lahore. Badr was never ashamed of telling people that his father used to sell ‘Pakoras’ at a Gawalmandi street. His father later started his cloth business at a small scale, but the family still lived from hand to mouth.  

Badr made his political debut by contesting 1970 elections as an independent candidate against Maulana Obaidullah Anwar. He lost this election as he secured a few hundred votes. It was only after a long wait of 18 years that Badr made it to the National Assembly of Pakistan for the first time in 1988.