Aam Aadmi Party (Pakistan)
The Aam Aadmi Party (Urdu: عام آدمی پارٹی; sometimes spelled Aam Admi Party[1]) is a Pakistani political party[2][3] that was formerly known as the Pakistan Muhajir League. The origins of the Pakistan Muhajir League are uncertain. There was a group bearing that name in the 1960s,[4] until its name change on 1 January 2014. The change of name mirrored the name chosen a few weeks earlier for a party in India.[5]
Aam Aadmi Party عام آدمی پارٹی | |
---|---|
Leader | Arslan Ul Mulk |
Founded | January 2014 (renaming) |
Headquarters | Ghakhar Mandi City, Gujranwala |
Ideology | Anti-corruption |
Colours | White and green |
Election symbol | |
Brick | |
The party is led by Arslan Ul Mulk, a human rights activist from Gujranwala,[6] who has been in charge since 2011. It campaigns on issues relating to imprisonment and police torture. Mulk said it would strive to make Pakistan a country as dream of by its founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah.[6]
Briefly detained on 3 February 2014, under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, Mulk embarked on a series of hunger strike camps in various cities across Pakistan.[6] Since then Mulk has been booked and detained several times by police on charges related to political activism. Mulk faces a determined opposition which sees him as a newcomer in an already crowded field of Pakistani politics, unlike Arvind Kejriwal of the Indian AAP, who drew his fame from his mentor Anna Hazare, who has led a prolonged struggle against corruption.[7]
Ideology
Mulk says that they have a 54-point agenda that includes the elimination of hereditary politics, restoration of self-esteem of the common man, and getting rid of corruption.[8]
In April 2014, Adnan Randhawa, a former civil servant and anti-corruption activist from Burewala, formed another party bearing a similar name, the Aam Aadmi Party of Pakistan (AAPP). Randhawa had previously been involved with Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf but became disillusioned, especially because he thought it was moving to the right of the political spectrum and was increasingly dominated by the very ruling elite that it had set out to challenge. According to The Times of India, Randhawa says his AAPP "lays greater emphasis on national rejuvenation" than Mulk's AAP and it has a wider focus on social issues such as poverty.[9][1]
References
Notes
Citations
- "List of Political Parties Enlisted with ECP" (PDF). Election Commission of Pakistan. May 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- "Meeting With D.I.K Delegation". Daily Express. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- "First NEC of AAPP". Daily Dunya. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
- Salman, Peerzada (9 February 2015). "This week 50 years ago: Muhajirs advised to disassociate from political wrangles". -Dawn. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- "ECP dissolves AQ Khan's party". The Nation. 2 January 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
- "Inspired by AAP, party with same name launched in Pakistan". The Times of India. 9 March 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
- "Pakistani Aam Aadmi Party seeks end to dynastic politics". www.thenews.com.pk.
- "Formal start: Amm Admi Party launched in K-P - The Express Tribune". 22 November 2015.
- Mukherji, Anahita (6 April 2014). "An echo of India's Aam Aadmi Party in Pakistan". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
Further reading
- Gishkori, Zahid (17 March 2014). "Pakistani version of Aam Admi launched". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
- Menon, Meena (17 March 2014). "A second Aam Aadmi Party in Pakistan 2015". The Hindu. Retrieved 24 February 2015.