President was Maulana Bhashani and the Secretary General was Mahmudul Huq Usmani. Mirza Mehdy Ispahani (aka Sadri Ispahani) was the treasurer. Afzal Bangash was the NAP's General Secretary in NWFP. The National Awami Party was along with the Awami League expected to easily win the 1959 planned general elections. Its primary target was the disbanding of the One Unit scheme in West Pakistan and a fair deal for the increasingly discontented people of East Pakistan. 1958 ban In 1958 Ayub Khan came to power and all political parties were banned. The NAP was regarded by some as a front organization of the Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP) and it faced a harsh crackdown from the Ayub government. Hasan Nasir, NAP Office Secretary and card-carrying member of the CPP, was tortured to death in custody. Revival When Ayub allowed political parties again in 1962, the NAP was revived with all of its old components except the G.M. Sayed group and Ganatantri Dal. Party split At the end of 1967, a growing rift developed within the party, allegedly because Maulana Bhashani told his supporters to support Ayub Khan in the 1965 elections against the joint opposition nominee Fatima Jinnah. In return he was supposed to have received payoffs and favours, a fact which he never contradicted. On 30. November 1967, after a council session of the party in Rangpur, the NAP formally split into two factions: A pro-Chinese Bhashani faction in East Pakistan eventually formed part of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) A pro-Soviet Wali Khan faction in West Pakistan now part of ANP and PPP-P. Political ideology The NAP set the following as its main aims: Defence of the sovereignty, integrity, and independence of Pakistan. Non-aligned, independent foreign policy. Ending of exploitation of Pakistan externally and its people internally. Abolition of One Unit and reorganisation of provinces on a linguistic basis. Right of adult franchise. In July 1965, as the manifesto was amended after the party's re-emergence, the NAP declared that the system of government in the country should be based on the concept of people's sovereignty. The Party advocated the maximum provincial autonomy in a confederal structure. Only Defence and Foreign Affairs were to be left with the 'Federal' government, while other powers were to rest with the autonomous units. One-Unit in West Pakistan had to be replaced by a "regional confederation where provinces would be created on linguistic lines".