[4] On 1 May 1968, at a meeting in Peshawar, the Mazdoor Kisan Party was formed with Afzal Bangash as the leader and Sher Ali Bacha as the General Secretary.

It achieved immediate success in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan,[6] where spontaneous struggles between peasants and landlords were already taking place due to Ayub Khan's land reforms and imposition of farm machinery.

The MKP provided the organisation and leadership needed by the peasant rebellion and in turn the movement gained tremendous following in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The provincial NAP-JUI stood firmly behind the landlords in the struggle and, failing to get the central government to establish a ban on the MKP, tried to smear the party by putting forward the notion that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had initiated the peasant movement.

In a daylong pitched battle, an army of 1500 heavily armed policemen were routed with a casualty rate of about 20 peasants and party cadres on the MKP side.

Armed security guards were placed around the area, and a strike of bus owners was set off by opposing forces in order to prevent people from attending the national congress.

An energetic debate took place during which Major Ishaq Muhammad was elected as president of the party and Sher Ali Bacha as General Secretary.

Instead it held the slogan of "Intikhab Naheen, Inqilab" (Revolution, not elections) and organised mass rallies following a relaxation of political restrictions.

The government was accused by the right-wing Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) of rigging the elections, and the country was basically polarised between supporters and opponents of Bhutto.

The MKP, as well as the rest of the left in Pakistan, was mostly powerless in this major crisis, crying out for civil liberties while at the same time labelling PNA as reactionary.

The three disagreeing factions in the MKP were personified by Sher Ali Bacha, Afzal Bangash, Imtiaz Alam, and Major Ishaq Muhammad.

Finally in 1978, the MKP formally split up into three factions: One led by Bangash, taking most of the NWFP organisation and the party in northern Punjab with him.

Eventually the MKP and the Pakistan Workers’ Party (PWP) led by Fatehyab Ali Khan, decided to merge and reduce their votes in the coalition from two to one.

Resolutions and the political program implemented at the congress showed the maturity and realism of the new party, and also illustrated the potential of forging left unity.

However, Fatehyab Ali Khan's faction did not follow the merger with the NDP, instead it continued on as MKP, now calling itself "Mazdoor Kisan Party Pakistan".

"[3] Khan also pledged "that if voted to power, his party will provide free education up to matric for all and restore the 1973 Constitution in its original form.

In 2012, a documentary film was screened in Lahore highlighting the armed struggle of peasants and workers of this small area which was crushed in 1974 by the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto regime.

[7] On 27 October 2013, tribute was paid to Afzal Bangash, Salar Mohammad Shah Ali and Inqilabi Gojar Khan at an event in Charsadda for their efforts to help the working class.

[8] Some speakers at the event complained about the performance of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province following the party's coming to power after the 2013 Pakistani general election.

The ideal system was defined as one in which power was held by workers, peasants, patriotic sections of the intelligentsia, nationalistic entrepreneurs and small traders.

Although the MKP had always been quite weak among the urban middle class groups it did manage getting a good number of members from amongst lawyers, journalists, college teachers and other white-collar professions.

Sher Ali Bacha was the main editor of these magazines and pamphlets including the weekly “Sanobar” which was closed down in 1971 and the monthly “Circular” running from 1972 to 1978.