Muhammed Afzal Khan Lala (also known as Afzal Khan Lala; 1926 – 1 November 2015) was a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

nationalist, former Pakistani provincial and Federal minister from the

Swat valley Swat District (), also known as the Swat Valley, is a district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Known for its stunning natural beauty, the district is a popular tourist destination. With a population of 2,687,384 per th ...

in the

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ) was a province of British India from 1901 to 1947, of the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, and of the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1970 to 2010. It was established on 9 November ...

. Hailing from the Yousafzai tribe of Bara Durushkhela village of

Matta, Swat Matta () is a town in Swat District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. It is located about from the central city of Mingora. Demographics Population The population of town in 2017 was 42,547 but according to the 2023 Census of Pakist ...

and a senior member of the

Awami National Party The Awami National Party (ANP; , ; lit. ''People's National Party'') is a Pashtun nationalist, secular and leftist political party in Pakistan. The party was founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986 and its current president is Aimal Wali Khan, g ...

, he survived several assassination attempts allegedly by the supporters of

Maulana Fazlullah Fazal Hayat (1974 – 15 June 2018), more commonly known by his pseudonym Mullah Fazlullah (Pashto/), was an Islamist jihadist militant who was the leader of the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi, and was the leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban P ...

Political career

Afzal Khan Lala began his political career affiliated with National Awami Party (NAP) in opposing the rule of the

Wali of Swat The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...

. Formally joining the party in 1969 after Swat's merger into NWFP, he was elected member of provincial assembly in Pakistan's 1970, first ever national election. A close confidante of

Abdul Wali Khan Khan Abdul Wali Khan (; ; 11 January 1917 – 26 January 2006) was a Pashtun Pakistani democratic socialist politician who served as president of Awami National Party. Son of the prominent Pashtun nationalist leader Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Wali ...

he was one of three

National Awami Party The National Awami Party (NAP) was the major left-wing political party in East and West Pakistan. It was founded in 1957 in Dhaka, erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), by Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Yar Mohammad Khan, through th ...

provincial ministers appointed in the short-lived coalition government of Mufti Mehmud. In 1975, he was arrested by the government as part of general crackdown against the opposition and was charged as part of the

Hyderabad tribunal The Hyderabad tribunal (1975–1979), also known as Hyderabad conspiracy case, is the name of a former judicial tribunal used in Pakistan to prosecute opposition politicians of the National Awami Party on the charges of treason and acting agai ...

. Released in 1978, he was elected provincial president of the

, however, in 1990, he and senior party leaders formed a breakaway party called the Pakhtunkhwa Qaumi Party (PQP) in protest against the Awami National Party's decision to form an alliance with the conservative

Islami Jamhoori Ittehad The Islami Jamhuri Ittihad (IJI) was a right-wing conservative alliance formed in September 1988 to oppose the democratic socialist Pakistan Peoples Party in elections that year. The alliance comprised nine parties, of which the major components ...

. Allying his group to the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a political party in Pakistan and one of the three major List of political parties in Pakistan, Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. With a Cent ...

, Afzal Khan was elected to the National Assembly in the 1993 elections. Serving as Federal Minister for the Northern areas and Kashmir from 1993 to 1996, he withdrew from electoral politics after 1997. He then allied himself with the

Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement The Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (PONM) was an alliance of several nationalist parties in Pakistan: Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party, Awami Tehreek, Balochistan National Party (Mengal), Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Seraiki movement etc. Pr ...

(PONM), advocating full provincial autonomy for the various ethnicities of Pakistan. In 2005 he rejoined the Awami National Party.

Opposition to Taliban

One of the few opponents not in exile or dead at the hands of the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

in the region, Afzal Khan Lala has been guarded by relatives and members of the

. In an interview, he said from his house in the Durushkhela area of

Swat A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

that he refuses to leave the area to Taliban: ''"I shall die but will not leave the ground to militants".''

Recognition by Pakistan government

As acknowledgement for his bravery in the face of terrorism, he was awarded by the President of Pakistan, the highest civilian award for bravery the Hilal-i-Shujaat in 2009.

Death

Afzal Khan Lala died on 1 November 2015 in Swat, aged 89, after a protracted illness. Afghan President

Ashraf Ghani Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan former politician and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was 2021 Taliban offensive, overthrown by the Ta ...

, CEO

Abdullah Abdullah Abdullah Abdullah (Dari language, Dari, , ; born Abdullah; 5 September 1960) is an Afghan politician who led the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) from May 2020 until August 2021, when the Afghan government was Fall of Kabul (2021), ...

, former President

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan politician who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, including as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. He previously served a ...

and other leaders expressed their condolences.Obituary
thenews.com.pk. Accessed 3 July 2025.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lala, Afzal Khan 2015 deaths 1926 births Awami National Party politicians Pashtun politicians Pashtun nationalists 20th-century Pakistani politicians 21st-century Pakistani politicians Date of birth missing

Political career

Opposition to Taliban

Recognition by Pakistan government

Death

See also

References