Afzal Khamosh

Afzal Shah Khamosh (Pashto: افضل شاه خاموش) is a Pashtun nationalist politician and activist who is the chairman of the Mazdoor Kisan Party (MKP), formerly Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Party (PMKP).[1][2][3]

Afzal Khamosh
افضل خاموش
Chairman of the Mazdoor Kisan Party (formerly Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Party)
Personal details
BornHashtnagar, Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Occupation

Political activism and detentions

In 1970, Khamosh joined the Mazdoor Kisan Party as a general worker. In 1971, he was appointed as the party's Incharge of Youth Affairs in Charsadda. In 1973, he was appointed as the party's President for Peshawar District. In 1982, he was appointed to the position of Central General Secretary.

During the rule of the Pakistani Martial Law Administrator General Zia-ul-Haq, Khamosh went to jail three times. In 1982, Khamosh faced a severe accident which resulted into broken leg. However, the police still raided his house and come to arrest him on the orders of Zia-ul-Haq and the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, General Fazle Haq. He was picked up by the police despite his broken leg along with his bed and transferred to Haripur Jail. During General Pervez Musharraf's military regime, he had to again go to jail several times.

He contested the Provincial Assembly Elections against Aftab Sherpao in 1993, but lost to him by a narrow margin of 54 votes. In 2003, he was elected as Central President of the Central Congress of Mazdoor Kisan Party.[1]

Pashtun Jirgas

On 7 August 2021, Khamosh convened a Pashtun Jirga in Hashtnagar, Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to discuss the major problems affecting Pashtuns, such as insecurity and power over their resources, and to find solutions. Khamosh said, "the jirga debated on issues and urged the government to revisit foreign policy in the wake of changing situation in Afghanistan and the new wave of terrorism in the country."[4]

The Hashtnagar Jirga was a continuation of a previous Pashtun Jirga organized on 10 March 2020 at Bacha Khan Markaz, Peshawar by Asfandyar Wali Khan of the Awami National Party (ANP). In the 1990s, a similar series of Pashtun Jirgas was started by Afzal Khan Lala.

From 11 to 14 March 2022, Khamosh was part of the Pashtun National Jirga, which was hosted by Mahmood Khan Achakzai of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to discuss the critical issues faced by the Pashtuns in Pakistan and Afghanistan.[5]

See also

References
  1. "Leadership – PMPK".
  2. "Hashtnagar farmers resist dispossession bid". December 4, 2017.
  3. "PMKP opposes eviction of peasants from lands". www.thenews.com.pk.
  4. "Afghanistan's situation: Pakhtun Qaumi Jirga urges govt to revisit foreign policy". The News International.
  5. "بنو کې پښتون قامي جرګه: ارزښت او هیلې". Radio Mashaal (in Pashto).
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