National Awami Party (Wali)
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The National Awami Party (Wali) originally called National Awami party (Muzaffar).[1] was formed after a split between Maulana Bhashani and Khan Wali Khan ostensibly over Bhashani's siding with China and Professor Muzaffar Ahmed along with Khan Abdul Wali Khan sided with U.S.S.R in the Sino-Russian split. The party was later named National Awami Party after the separation of East Pakistan. [1]
The NAP was banned twice during its 8 year long existence, the first time under Yahya Khans government and the second time by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's government. It was then resurrected under the name National Democratic Party, from which in turn was formed the Awami National Party.[2]
The Party represented left wing views in Pakistan and its core politics was based on the disbanding of the One Unit, restoration of adult franchise (1967-1970), land reforms, protection of tenants' rights, redistribution of wealth through nationalistaion, provincial autonomy in a loose federation as well as the holding of fair elections, protection of an independent judiciary and freedom of the press.
It contested the 1970 election, winning the second largest number of seats in NWFP and the largest in Baluchistan as well as a handful of seats in East Pakistan's provincial assembly. It failed to win any seats in Punjab and Sind.
After the division of Pakistan in 1971, NAP formed coalition governments in the NWFP and Balochistan on the basis of winning majority of seats in the two provinces. Z A Bhutto dissolved the Balochistan government on the pretext that Iran was averse to the rule of nationalists in that province, which compelled the NAP and its ally Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, then headed by Maulana Mufti Mehmud, to resign from government in the NWFP.[3]
[edit] Hyderabad tribunal
In the face of an increasingly strong national campaign led by the NAP against the government, Bhutto banned NAP on February 8, 1975 after the murder of his close colleague Hayat Khan Sherpao, throwing thousands of its workers and leaders, including party President Wali Khan, in jail.[4]
Invoking the 1st amendment of the 1973 constituiton the government charged Wali Khan and his colleagues under the Hyderabad Conspiracy Case in 1976, although they were acquitted of the charge of the murder of PPP stalwart Hayat Khan Sherpao, the decision to ban the NAP was upheld by the courts. In addition to Khan Abdul Wali Khan, the case also implicated two governors, two chief ministers, scores of national and provincial parliamentarians, revolutionary poet Habib Jalib and even some of Bhutto’s former colleagues, many of whom were later re-elected and became federal or provincial ministers .
With the NAP leadership largely imprisoned, a new political party was formed on the wreckage of the NAP in 1976 by Sardar Sherbaz Mazari.[4] Named National Democratic Party (NDP), it was headed by Sherbaz Mazari. The Hyderabad case was withdrawn after General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq imposed martial law in July 1977. Wali Khan left party affairs to Sher Baz Mazari after his release from jail in 1979. The party faced a split at that time between far left elements led by Khair Bakhsh Marri advocating outright separation and armed struggle and those advocating political struggle led by Sherbaz Mazari. The split ended the alliance between Pashtun Nationalists and Baloch Nationalists that Wali Khan had formed in 1969.[4]
Sherbaz Mazari led the NDP into joining the Movement for Restoration of Democracy. The alliance with former rivals the PPP did not go down well with Ghaffar Khan who encouraged by Governor Fazle Haq warned Ghaffar Khan of what would happen if the PPP returned to power.
This move led to differences between Mazari and Wali Khan which were aggravated after Wali Khan in a statement rejected the 1973 constitution and Wali Khan's election as NDP President after Mazari separated ways from him served two terms as President.
The NDP was merged with other nationalist parties from Balochistan and Sindh in 1986 in Karachi to launch a new political party named Awami National Party with Wali Khan as its president and Rasul Bux Palejo as its general-secretary. Sherbaz Mazari briefly resurrected the NDP prior to the 1988 elections but it failed to win any seats.
[edit] References
- ^ a b The National Awami Party of Pakistan: Leftist Politics in Crisis M. Rashiduzzaman Pacific Affairs, Vol. 43, No. 3 (Autumn, 1970), pp. 394-409 Published by: Pacific Affairs, University of British Columbia
- ^ NAP spelt anew by Rahimullah Yousafzai. THE NEWs retrieved 5-2-2006
- ^ National Awami Party declassified documents
- ^ a b c Mazari, Sherbaz (1999) A Journey into disillusionmentOxford University Press
