Arif Wazir

Sardar
Arif Wazir
عارف وزیر
Born(1982-05-02)May 2, 1982
Ghawa Khwa, Wanna, South Waziristan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan
DiedMay 2, 2020(2020-05-02) (aged 38)
Islamabad, Pakistan[1]
Cause of deathGunshot wounds
Burial placeGhawa Khwa, Wanna, South Waziristan, Pakistan[2]
CitizenshipPakistani
Occupation(s)Politician, human rights activist
Political partyPashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party
MovementPashtun Tahafuz Movement
Children5[3]
FatherSaadullah Jan Wazir[4]
RelativesAli Wazir[4] (cousin)
Malik Mirzalam Wazir[4] (uncle)

Arif Wazir (Pashto: محمد عارف افغان وزیر; 2 May 1982 – 2 May 2020) was a Pakistani politician, activist, and a leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). He was a member of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) and its president for the South Waziristan chapter. He also headed the FATA Political Alliance South Waziristan, which campaigned for the rights of the people of former Federally Administered Tribal Areas.[5][6]

Wazir's family was long active in the Pashtun nationalist movement and opposed to the Talibanization of the former tribal areas, earning them the militants' enmity. His father (Saadullah Jan), two brothers (Ibrahim and Ishaq), two uncles (Malik Mirzalam and Feroz Khan) and two cousins (Tariq and Farooq Wazir) were all murdered in targeted killings, and he also survived assassination attempts himself. He spent a significant amount of time in jail in the last few years of his life, especially after joining the PTM in March 2018.[4]

On 1 May 2020, as he was driving home in Wanna just before the evening's fast-breaking meal, he was critically injured when gunmen in another vehicle shot him three times in the head, neck, and arm near his home.[7][8][9] He succumbed to his injuries on the next day after being shifted to Islamabad for emergency surgery, becoming the 18th male member of his extended family to be killed by militants since 2003.[10]

Amnesty International called on Pakistani officials to vigorously investigate the attack.[1] The inspector-general of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Police, Sanaullah Abbasi, said that Wazir was murdered because of his recent interview in Kabul, Afghanistan.[11] A post from the verified Twitter account of the Governor of Punjab, Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar, blamed the Indian intelligence agency RAW and the Afghan intelligence agency NDS for the attack.[12] However, when a reporter requested the information minister Shibli Faraz to share progress about finding the murderers, he declined, saying "I don't know the details" of Wazir's assassination.[13] PTM claimed that “state-sponsored militants” and the so-called "good Taliban" were responsible for the assassination, and held widespread protests during which several of its activists, including Gilaman Wazir and Nadeem Askar, were arrested by Pakistani authorities.[14][4] Wazir was survived by his wife and five children.[3] On 14 March 2022, the Pashtun National Jirga in Bannu demanded that Wazir's death be investigated by a credible judicial commission headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, and that the report be made public.[15]

  1. ^ a b "PTM's Arif Wazir dies in Islamabad hospital after gun attack in Wana". Dawn. May 2, 2020. Archived from the original on 2 May 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  2. ^ "PTM leader Arif Wazir dies from injuries". The News International. May 3, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "PTM's Arif Wazir succumbs to gunshot wounds". Pakistan Today. May 2, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e Yusufzai, Rahimullah (May 10, 2020). "A murder foretold". The News on Sunday.
  5. ^ "Protest against arrest of PkMAP president in Wana bazaar". Tribal News Network. April 2, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference i9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Gunmen Critically Injure Pashtun Rights Activist In Pakistan's Tribal Areas". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. May 1, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  8. ^ "پی ٹی ایم کے رہنما عارف وزیر قاتلانہ حملے میں زخمی، ہسپتال منتقل". BBC Urdu (in Urdu). May 1, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  9. ^ "The final hour and desperate measures of Pak Army: Murders of Arif Wazir and Sajid Baluch". Asian News International. May 3, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  10. ^ "Pashtun Rights Activist Killed In Waziristan Gun Attack". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. May 2, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference ig was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference at4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "Minister Shibli Faraz Says Not Aware Of 'Details' Of Arif Wazir's Murder". Naya Daur. May 6, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  14. ^ "Amid complete media blackout, PTM stages worldwide protests against killing of Arif Wazir". Sayhoon News. May 6, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  15. ^ "د بنو جرګه: افغانستان کې دې د لويې جرګې له لارې حکومت جوړ شي". BBC News (in Pashto). March 14, 2022.