ISLAMABAD: Lawmakers belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Friday voiced their displeasure over the portrayal of Pashtuns as terrorists in a recent mock counterterrorism drill in Multan, saying that it had hurt the sentiments of the community.

A calling-attention notice on the misrepresentation of Pashtuns was moved in the National Assembly by PTI MNAs Shehryar Afridi, Asad Umar and Muhammad Amir Dogar.

Last month, four police officers from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) acted as terrorists in a mock exercise at a railway station in Multan. One of them acted as a sub-inspector of Pashtun origin from Tank in his local attire. The officer has been working in the CTD for 32 years.

Responding to the criticism, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said that the mock operation was a routine exercise to prepare the personnel of security agencies to deal with terror events, given the security risks in the country.

“The four personnel were asked to wear normal clothes to make the exercise look as natural as possible. Critics must understand that the intention was not to present Pashtuns or anyone else as terrorists,” he said.

In mock exercises, he added, the personnel who acted as terrorists were sometimes also asked to wear a veil or dress in uniforms of security forces. “This did not mean that women who wore veils were terrorists. This was a needless calling attention,” said Mr Chaudhry.

To prove his argument, he showed pictures of officials dressed as terrorists to the legislators, saying that actors wore different attires to depict various scenarios. “Individuals participating in combing operations come from various backgrounds. During verification in Punjab, 99 per cent of the Punjabis are scrutinised. This does not mean that a particular community is being targeted,” he said

However, the PTI MNAs remained unconvinced and insisted that the Pashtun community had been harassed by security agencies for a long time. “Such discrimination is creating resentment in the community,” said Mr Dogar.

He gave the example of his own constituency where security personnel first screened Pashtuns for operations.

Talal Chaudhry maintained that the Pashtun sub-inspector was a respected staff member of the CTD, who had rendered his services in several operations.

PTI’s Munaza Hassan argued that it would have been better if Mr Chaudhry had issued an apology for the misrepresentation of Pashtuns which had offended the community.

The minister, however, insisted that the criticism was needless.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2018