New party vows to raise youth issues, support civic rights campaigns

The National Democratic Movement (NDM) will convene its first meeting on Sunday (today) in Korangi to organise the newly formed progressive party in Sindh, particularly in Karachi, with a focus on raising youth-related issues, supporting ongoing civic rights campaigns in the city and forging unity among the ethnic communities living in the province.

A group of progressive Pashtun leaders led by MNA Mohsin Dawar formed the NDM earlier this month to promote what they call a “secular federal democratic parliamentary system” in the country.

“The newly formed party will mainly focus on the youth, who comprise 64 per cent of the country’s total population, and cultivate a democratic and vibrant party structure,” said 32-year-old Aijaz Aslam, member of the NDM’s central organising committee from Sindh. Aslam formerly served as provincial president of the National Youth Organisation, a defunct sister organisation of the Awami National Party (ANP).

“The youth can be the only force that can grapple with contemporary challenges and build an environment for progressive politics in the 21st century,” Aslam told The News.

He recognises the need for greater organisation in Karachi, the country’s largest and multi-ethnic metropolitan city, and understands that to build a viable alternative to existing political parties drawing their support on ethnic grounds, it must be receptive to new ideas and approaches to political organisation.

“The NDM plans to engage and support ongoing rights campaigns, such as the Karachi Bachao Tehreek campaigning against ongoing forced demolitions and evictions in various areas, such as along Gujjar and Orangi nullahs,” said Aslam, who took part in various protests against the demolitions.

Former ANP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president and ex-senator Afrasiab Khattak, Supreme Court Bar Association President Abdul Latif Afridi, former MNAs Bushra Gohar and Jamila Gilani, and ex-senator Bashir Matta are among the prominent figures who are part of the new party.

Khattak, Bushra and Jamila had visited Karachi in March to meet leaders of civil society and rights groups as well as left-wing and Pashtun political activists to discuss the forming of the new political party.

“We are fortunate to have the guidance of these leaders who have extensive experience of the highs and lows of the country’s politics,” said Aslam.

The NDM comprises disgruntled leaders of the ANP and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, along with rights activists and leftists as well as workers of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement.

“We believe that a major political vacuum has emerged in Pashtun politics over the past decade, and traditional nationalist parties have increasingly lost touch with the changing socio-political realities, including the emergence of the middle-class youth and their heavily digital engagement, and other factors,” said Aslam.

The NDM has entered the political fray at a time of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and the imminent forming of the government in Kabul.

“The change in Afghanistan will affect our region, particularly KP and Balochistan, and even Karachi, and the NDM through its activities will try to counter its growing influence in our society,” said Aslam.

The NDM leader said that the party also plans to initiate a campaign for the release of MNA Ali Wazir and pressurise the Sindh government into arresting the culprits behind the Mawach Goth terror attack that killed six women and seven children on Independence Day.