FAROOQ TARIQ - Pakistan’s Ali Wazir: The lone Marxist to win despite Taliban killing 16 of his family
A rare Communist to
survive and win, Wazir refused a seat from Imran Khan, who later didn’t put up
a candidate against him.
Ali Wazir, a central
committee member of The Struggle, has won a seat in the national parliament of Pakistan
from NA-50 (Tribal Area–XI) with 23,530 votes and his
closest rival from a religious parties alliance, MMA got 7,515. Thus winning
the seat with a majority of 16,015. Ali Wazir is one of
the main leaders of the Pashtun Tahafaz Movement (PTM). This year, mass
meetings were organised in major cities of Pakistan to raise voices for fair
compensation to the victims of the “war on terror” and to demand the release of
all ‘missing’ persons or to bring them to the courts if they are guilty.
Two other leaders of
the PTM also contested for the national parliament and one of them, Muhsin
Dawer also won the seat after a close competition. Mohsin Javed Dawer got
16,526 votes while Aurangzeb of Imran Khan’s PTI got 10,422. However, the MMA
candidate Mufti Misbahudin got a close 15,363 votes.
These two PTM leaders
contested from Waziristan, an area dominated by religious fanatics. However, a
strong movement for civil rights of Pashtuns had cut across the influence of
the fanatics and Pashtuns voted despite all the threats to them. Two main leaders of
the PTM present in parliament has given hope to many in Pakistan that at least
there would be peoples voices in a parliament dominated by feudal lords,
corrupt capitalists and stooges of the military and judicial establishment.
Who is Ali Wazir?
Ali Wazir is a very
special person. His personal ordeal best illustrates what prompted his demands.
Ali Wazir was pursuing a degree in law at the turn of the century when his
hometown, Wana, the headquarters of the south Waziristan agency, became the
epicenter of global terrorism after a host of Taliban-allied groups sought
shelter in the communities... read more:
