MNA Mohsin Dawar removed from NA's Foreign Affairs committee, alleges foul play

Published February 25, 2019
PTM leader Mohsin Dawar (center). — Photo courtesy Dawar's Twitter profile
PTM leader Mohsin Dawar (center). — Photo courtesy Dawar's Twitter profile

Independent MNA Mohsin Dawar on Monday complained about his removal from the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and subsequent placement on the relatively unknown Standing Committee on House and Library.

He was replaced by a PTI MNA from Charsadda, Fazal Muhammad Khan, on the Foreign Affairs committee.

Dawar — who is associated with the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) and has had a troubled relationship with security agencies — in a tweet accused NA Speaker Asad Qaiser of bowing to vested interests in the Pakistani state by ordering his removal from the committee.

Notification of Dawar's removal from Foreign Affairs committee.
Notification of Dawar's removal from Foreign Affairs committee.

Muhammad Mohsin Iqbal, the director media of the National Assembly, confirmed the development. There was no reason given for the change.

Dawar told our correspondents that he learned about the matter after arriving at the assembly today.

He said he brought the NA speaker's attention to the matter, but the latter had no knowledge of the change. Dawar said the NA speaker found out later after he (Qaiser) made some inquiries.

Dawar said he was "not satisfied" with Qaiser's response and will raise the matter with opposition lawmakers.

Earlier, Dawar and fellow MNA Ali Wazir, who is also associated with the PTM, were forcibly prevented from travelling to Dubai to participate in a cultural event. They were told that their names had been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) in connection with a case registered against them in Swabi.

Though their names were eventually ordered to be struck off from the ECL, the two were again prevented from travelling, this time domestically, to attend the funeral of Professor Arman Loni in Loralai, Balochistan in February.

Earlier last year, Dawar was also banned from entering North Waziristan for three months before the Peshawar High Court eventually set aside that ban.

Dawar is a key figure in the PTM.

The PTM is a rights-based alliance that, besides calling for the de-mining of the former tribal areas and greater freedom of movement in the latter, has insisted on an end to the practices of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions, and for their practitioners to be held to account within a truth and reconciliation framework.

Opinion

Editorial

Kurram atrocity
Updated 22 Nov, 2024

Kurram atrocity

It would be a monumental mistake for the state to continue ignoring the violence in Kurram.
Persistent grip
22 Nov, 2024

Persistent grip

PAKISTAN has now registered 50 polio cases this year. We all saw it coming and yet there was nothing we could do to...
Green transport
22 Nov, 2024

Green transport

THE government has taken a commendable step by announcing a New Energy Vehicle policy aiming to ensure that by 2030,...
Military option
Updated 21 Nov, 2024

Military option

While restoring peace is essential, addressing Balochistan’s socioeconomic deprivation is equally important.
HIV/AIDS disaster
21 Nov, 2024

HIV/AIDS disaster

A TORTUROUS sense of déjà vu is attached to the latest health fiasco at Multan’s Nishtar Hospital. The largest...
Dubious pardon
21 Nov, 2024

Dubious pardon

IT is disturbing how a crime as grave as custodial death has culminated in an out-of-court ‘settlement’. The...