Ali Wazir

Ali Wazir belongs to the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe of the Pashtuns. His father, Malik Mirzalam Wazir, was the chief of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe.[7] Ali Wazir received his early education in Wanna, South Waziristan. While studying law at Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, he was influenced by the International Marxist Tendency group and became a political activist.[6] In 2003, Ali Wazir's elder brother Farooq Wazir, who was a tribal leader and activist critical of the Taliban's presence in Waziristan, was assassinated by the Taliban militants. It marked the start of a long campaign during which the Taliban killed thousands of local activists, politicians, and clerics in the Pashtun tribal areas who had opposed the Taliban.[4][6] In June 2004, Ali Wazir's father, Malik Mirzalam, was picked up by the authorities under the collective responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulations.[8] In July 2005, while Ali Wazir was in prison under the same law, the Taliban killed his father, brother, two uncles, and two cousins in a single ambush near their home. When Ali Wazir was briefly released by the authorities, the funerals had already ended.[4][2] Remembering the day in July 2005, Ali's mother, Khwazhamina, said: "Our whole front yard was red with the blood oozing from our martyrs. Our house was eerily silent and empty after their remains were taken to the graveyard for burial. Only the cries of our small children echoed in the blank courtyard.” Her family said that she lived in a doorless room afterwards, because of her fear of being awaken to a tragic news by a knock at her door.[2] In May 2020, Ali's first cousin Arif Wazir was assassinated.[9] Between 2003 and 2020, 18 male members of Ali Wazir's extended family were killed by the militants.[10]

The militants also ruined the businesses owned by his family. Their gas stations were demolished, their tube wells were filled with dirt, and their apple and peach orchards were sprayed with poisonous chemicals.[11] In 2016, their market in Wanna was blown up with dynamite. After the blowing up of the market, the locals of Wanna were prevented from collecting donations to help Ali Wazir's family. “They were told it would set an unacceptable precedent because the government cannot let anyone help those it punishes,” Ali Wazir wrote in his article.[7]

On June 3, 2018, during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, gunmen affiliated with the Taliban attacked Ali Wazir and other supporters of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) in Wanna, South Waziristan. Ali Wazir survived but three supporters of PTM were killed in the attack while dozens others, including Ali Wazir's cousin Arif Wazir and a local journalist Noor Ali Wazir, were injured.[12][4][13][2] Many of the injured were taken to hospitals in Dera Ismail Khan.[14]

A local senior journalist, on condition of anonymity, told that his sources confirmed that the attack was carried out by the Nazir Group, a faction of the Taliban militants which operated in South Waziristan.[3] The dispute between the two parties in Wanna had started on June 2 when a pro-government militant leader, Ainullah Wazir, took away Pashteen hats from PTM activists by force and set the hats on fire. To condemn the act of the militant leader, Ali Wazir announced that a protest sit-in was to be held by PTM in Wanna from June 4. In response, the militants with guns went to Ali Wazir's home and asked him to either leave the area or leave PTM. When Ali Wazir refused to comply with their demand, they attacked Wanna's Mirzalam Market and a nearby petrol pump owned by Ali Wazir. However, a large number of unarmed PTM supporters gathered at the market to support Ali Wazir and resisted the militants, after which the militants indiscriminately opened fire on the PTM supporters. The PTM leader Mohsin Dawar alleged that when the militants fled after the attack was repulsed, security forces reached the area who also opened fire on the unarmed PTM supporters, injuring many of them. Mohsin Dawar added: “Even though the military imposed a curfew in the area, but it has not discouraged the people from coming out and expressing their support for the PTM.”[15] The PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen also claimed that the attackers were backed by the Pakistan Army and intelligence agencies. Following a protest call by Pashteen, PTM held protest rallies in several cities including Peshawar, Quetta, and Islamabad to condemn the attack on Ali Wazir.[16][14]

On June 4, the Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor claimed at a press conference that a firefight had taken place between PTM supporters and a government sponsored peace committee, .[17]

Ali Wazir ran for the seat of the National Assembly of Pakistan as an independent candidate from Constituency NA-41 (Tribal Area-VI) in 2008 Pakistani general election but was unsuccessful. He received 3,294 votes and lost the seat to Abdul Maalik Wazir.[18]

He ran for the seat of the National Assembly as an independent candidate from Constituency NA-41 (Tribal Area-VI) in 2013 Pakistani general election but was unsuccessful. He received 7,641 votes and lost the seat to Ghalib Khan.[19] Reportedly, Taliban intimidated and tortured his voters and supporters which resulted in his defeat by 300 votes.[4]

In 2018, he became one of the leaders of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) which emerged after the extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud.[20]

He was offered Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ticket by Imran Khan to contest 2018 general election from his Constituency NA-50 (Tribal Area-XI) which he declined, following which Imran Khan decided not to field candidate against him in the constituency.[21][4]

He was elected to the National Assembly as an independent candidate from Constituency NA-50 (Tribal Area-XI) in the 2018 general election.[22] He received 23,530 votes and defeated an independent candidate, Syed Tariq Gailani.[23]

He is known for his vocal criticism of the Taliban and Pakistan's security establishment.[11] Ali Wazir has made several controversial remarks against other ethnic groups of Pakistan.[24][25] He has also demanded USA in a speech in Charsadda to "attack " Pakistan , claiming Lahore and Rawalpindi were 'terrorist hotspots'.[26][27] This has been widely condemned by Pakistani media. KPK information minister Shaukat Ali Yousafzai demanded that Wazir be banned from NA proceedings based on these controversial remarks.[26][28][29] Ali Wazir in April 2020 claimed that shifting of COVID-19 affected individuals to Dera Ismail Khan and Chaman was a ‘conspiracy against Pashtuns’, further stating that Pakistan Army wanted to earn money from Covid 19 outbreak [30]