Mohsin Dawar

Mohsin Dawar's great-grandfather was close to the Pashtun leader Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan), and had supported his nonviolent Khudai Khidmatgar resistance movement against the British Raj. While attending the Gomal University, Mohsin Dawar was the president of the Pashtun Students Federation (PSF), an allied student wing of the Awami National Party (ANP). Dawar also co-founded the ANP's youth wing, the National Youth Organisation (NYO). In the wake of Operation Zarb-e-Azb by the Pakistan Armed Forces, during which many inhabitants of North Waziristan were forced to flee their homes in June 2014 to settle at IDP camps in Bannu and other districts, Dawar campaigned for the return of the refugees to their homes. He led the ANP's humanitarian efforts for the displaced persons, which included raising funds, distributing rations and establishing a school. He also highlighted a number of other issues faced by the returnees in his speeches and writings, such as the army's demolition of shops in his hometown, Miramshah.[2]

At a press conference in Peshawar in November 2016, Dawar stated that before the launch of Operation Zarb-e-Azb, the terrorists in North Waziristan had already "shifted to other safer places and no resistance took place," but despite that, "hundreds of houses and around 8,000 shops in Miramshah were razed to the ground" during the operation. He added that expensive household items were also lost, but the government did not keep its commitment to compensate the affectees.[5] In his opinion article for Al Jazeera in March 2021, Dawar reiterated that although "the state of Pakistan claims it has been successful in its military operations, the region remains volatile as groups allied with the Taliban continue to not only exist and operate in these areas within Pakistan, but also carry out operations like before across the border in Afghanistan."[6]

Dawar's open criticism of the Pakistan Armed Forces, however, irritated ANP leaders, especially those who were looking to avoid confrontation with the military establishment. The ANP leaders were also annoyed when Dawar became one of the founding leaders of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) in February 2018.[2][7] In spite of receiving no show-cause notice in advance or an opportunity to defend himself, Dawar's membership was suspended from the ANP on 20 March 2018 by the party's president, Asfandyar Wali Khan.[4][8]

Dawar was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan as an independent candidate from NA-48 (Tribal Area-IX) in the 2018 general election.[9] He received 16,526 votes, defeating Mufti Misbahudin of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and Aurangzeb Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).[10]

On 1 September 2021, Dawar founded a political party, National Democratic Movement (NDM).[11] Some analysts claimed that the NDM would cause a set back for the PTM, a non-parliamentary political movement, and curtail its influence. However, Dawar insisted that the NDM would support the PTM. "The PTM is a joint movement and we remained part of it. I don’t think that the NDM will weaken the PTM," he said.[12] Several other leaders who joined the NDM, including Jamila Gilani, Bushra Gohar, Afrasiab Khattak and Abdullah Nangyal, were also prominent activists in the PTM.[13]

From 11 to 14 March 2022, he was part of the Pashtun National Jirga, which was held in Bannu to discuss the critical issues faced by the Pashtuns in Pakistan and Afghanistan.[14]

• Pashtun nationalism
• Afrasiab Khattak
• Bushra Gohar
• Jamila Gilani
• Gulalai Ismail