DISPATCHES OF RESILIENCE: THE FIGHT FOR LIFE IN PAKISTAN
Mohsin Dawar, a former MNA of District North Waziristan, has written a book titled “Dispatches of Resilience: The Fight for Life in Pakistan,” which was forwarded by ex-senator Afrasiab Khattak in 2024, published by Folio Book Publisher. The articles in the book reflect the historical great game of the 20th century’s US-led Western capitalist war against the socialist Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Mr. Dawar explains the era of ideology and power clashes on a global scale.
He mentions the petrodollar deals between America and Saudi Arabia in the 1980s resulting in the weaponization of religion and the inculcation of over 50,000 unregistered religious seminaries in Pakistan, particularly in the tribal areas. Furthermore, he highlights Islamabad’s narrow security-centric approach to the Pashtun borderlands. The terrorism and constant fear among the locals of Waziristan have frozen their movement, subsequently leading to the rise of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (Pashtun Protection Movement, or PTM). In early 2018, a popular uprising was triggered by the news of the murder of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a young man from South Waziristan, in a fake police encounter in Karachi. The political vacuum has been filled in the tribal areas by the three-front leadership: Manzoor Ahmed Pashteen, Mohsin Dawar, and Ali Wazir.
The important key factor behind the rise of PTM is the history of misguided policies on Pashtun land. Mr. Dawar writes, “we were labeled as ‘traitors’ and ‘foreign-sponsored agents’”. Further, he adds the stories of Operation Zarb-e-Azb, in which the people of Waziristan have been traumatized by the time they spent as IDPs, and their frustration has increased when a controversial schedule for their return has been announced, followed by the proposition of an illogical draft of a social agreement with the people of Waziristan. There is nothing to hope for.
From education to health, business to market, every inch of infrastructure has been bulldozed during the military operation. Commercial property has highly devalued, and curfews sometimes remained in force for weeks, which has also affected the education of the students in North Waziristan. Girls’ education has completely ceased; by propelling terror, even the only girls’ higher secondary school in Miranshah city was looted by the Taliban, its belongings have been sold off, and the school building has later been used as a base office by the local Taliban.
Mohsin Dawar further discusses supporting Provincially Administrated Tribal Areas (PATA) because Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) acted as buffer zones during colonial times against Russian communism. Currently, it is the epicenter and theater of terrorism. In erstwhile FATA, the parameters set to categorize the Maliks are that the more one has served as a facilitator between the militants and the political administration, the higher the category awarded to him. From the Taliban rule to the miseries of IDP camps, the people of FATA have suffered a lot from the strategic plans and experiments of the state of Pakistan.
Putting the stigma of ‘suspected terrorists’ on all the displaced people of erstwhile FATA—who are already living in miserable conditions—will lead to anti-state sentiments. Dawar, as an MNA, has suggested reforms in the ex-FATA for social and economic development. But replacing Frontier Crime Regulation (FCR) with the FATA Good Governance Act 2016, which incorporates the principles of individual responsibility in the administration of justice instead of collective responsibility as in the current FCR, The Supreme Court of Pakistan has addressed FATA by amending Article 247 of the Constitution.
What is the major achievement for the people of erstwhile FATA? According to the Act, the jirga system will be retained, and a council of elders appointed by the court will decide the criminal and civil cases under the light of Rawaj. Furthermore, the writer compiles a story of Pashtun long March under the banner of PTM from Lakki Marwat, Bannu, Karak, Kohat, Dara Adam Khel, Peshawar, and Mardan while singing a revolutionary tune, “Da Sang Azadi da” (What kind of freedom is this?), finally concluded in front of the Islamabad Press Club during the reign of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. The author writes, “two days later, the officials held a detailed meeting with the protesters. Verbal assurances were made that Rao Anwar would be arrested, dangerous landmines would be removed from the tribal belt, missing persons would be located, and prolonged curfews would be avoided in FATA”.
The agonies and sufferings of people are quite prevalent in Waziristan despite the pledges of the former government regarding development projects, reopening major roads to connect it with other parts of the region, restoration of mobile telephones and internet services, and helping to reopen the branches of a local bank. But the Pashtun heartland in these regions turned into a frontline in the War against Terror, where 50,000-plus civilians have died in more than 15 years of unrest as per Pakistani official reports. Dawar highlights that he has used the floor of the parliament to express the grievances of Pashtoons, as they grew up in a world defined by intolerance, hatred, and fear. But the writer wants to build future generations: loving, tolerant, and having a quest for emancipation.
The PTM was inspired by Bacha Khan’s non-violent philosophy. However, the decision of the Pakistani state and its US ally to transform Waziristan into an incubator for fighters in the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s has made the people violent. Dawar uses a poignant incident, the massacre of the residents of Doga Macha Mada Khel, a small village in North Waziristan. The writer, being the representative of the region, has visited the village accompanied by Ali Wazir to become the voice of the voiceless people. The author has alleged that law enforcement agencies have been involved in the tragic incident of Khar Qamar in which multiple casualties and injuries have occurred. Later, the state has offered the families approximately $17,500 and $8,000 for the deceased and injured souls, respectively.
Moreover, the author honors the brave late Senator Usman Kakar. In his 44 years in politics, Kakar witnessed a number of political upheavals and participated in the resistance movements of those moments. He was among the most vocal advocates for the rights of smaller nationalities and oppressed groups. He consistently raised his voice against war politics in the Pashtun regions, especially the policy of ‘strategic depth’. Similarly, Mohsin Dawar has paid tributes to the late advocate Latif Afridi, a progressive Marxist, for his legal and political services.
In the concluding section of the book, the writer introduces his political and social struggles and his family legacy. He was born in Miranshah (Darpa Khel) in 1984 to Javed Iqbal, a civil servant working for the local government departments. Dawar became aware of his family’s political legacy at a very early age. His great-grandfather was one of the two big Maliks in the Congress Party in pre-part partition India and was close to Pashtun independence activist Abdul Ghafar Khan. In his student life , Mohsin Dawar was the Awami National Party (ANP) worker at Gomal University, Dara Ismail Khan.
He became the founding member of the party’s youth wing, the National Youth Organization (NYO). First, he served as a central spokesman for NYO and later became its chairman. In 2018, when Mohsin Dawar started struggling with the PTM, initially the ANP endorsed the demands of the movement. But Dawar’s continued association with the burgeoning movement began to irk the leadership. A few months after the Islamabad sit-in, ANP terminated Dawar from the party. After that, he ran for the first time in the 2018 election from District North Waziristan (NA-48) under the symbol ‘Fan’. He was elected for five years in the National Assembly.
The writer is a researcher from District North Waziristan.
I got the whole idea of book with your great reviews on this book.
Thank you Zulqarnain.
Really appreciate how impressively you’ve reviewed!🩷
Great work
Adorable ♥️