He was a key figure in the rise of the Muslim League during 1946–1947, organising its campaigns in Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, prior to India's partition.

[3] Anwar has been described as a "shadowy figure", "complete adventurer",[5][6] and a "Muslim League's most important secret weapon in the creation of Pakistan".

[7] Anwar is said to have worked as an official in the civil supplies department in Delhi prior to World War II.

Anwar is said to have devoted 'considerable energy' to the effort, impressing upon the League workers the danger posed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which was, in his view, financed by the Indian National Congress.

[11] Under his leadership, the National Guards blew up bridges and railway lines during the Punjab civil disobedience campaign.

[13] On 12 September 1947, the Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan held a meeting in Lahore to formulate a strategy for capturing Kashmir.

[20] According to Shaukat Hayat Khan, they had fixed a 'D-day' in September, but discovered that Anwar had married a Muslim League worker in Peshawar and disappeared on a honeymoon.

[28] When they reached Baramulla, a rich provincial capital, their desire for loot was overwhelming, and they stopped listening to Anwar's orders.

According to some accounts, Anwar asked for an undertaking from the tribal leaders to abstain from looting, respect government property and protect treasuries.

Scholar Andrew Whitehead states that Anwar appears to have summoned political and religious leaders of the tribesmen to instil discipline in them.

[30] On 29 October, Governor George Cunningham of NWFP claims to have convinced Mohammad Ali Jinnah of providing better support to the tribal lashkar.

Consequently, the government decided to maintain a contingent of 5,000 tribesmen in Kashmir, provide their rations and ammunition, and establish a directing committee of five officials in Abbottabad to control recruitment and supplies.

[32] Around 6 November, Srinagar was exposed to its closest encounter with war as the city "reverberated to the sound of machine-gun and mortar firing".

Three hundred tribesmen faced a roadblock of the Indian Army 4.5 km west of the city, and engaged in a pitched battle in the early hours of the morning.