QUETTA: The Balochistan government on Saturday confirmed that Pashtun Tahaffuz Moment (PTM) leader and MNA Mohsin Dawar had been barred from entering Quetta.

“Mohsin Dawar is our guest and he has been shifted to a safe place,” government spokesman Liaquat Ali Shahwani said, adding that ensuring safety of the MNA was the government’s prime responsibility.

“After the recent blast in Quetta it was decided to provide our honourable guest maximum security,” he said.

It may be recalled that Mr Dawar was taken into custody and shifted to a rest house from the airport when he arrived in Quetta on Friday.

Sources said the airport security officials did not allow Mr Dawar to enter the city.

Rejecting the official claim that restriction on him had been placed because of security reasons, Mr Dawar said the airport authorities had informed him that he was not allowed to enter Balochistan for a period of another 90 days.

“The state thinks it can break our resolve with such tactics. They can’t,” he tweeted.

The MNA also posted the image of a government notice on Twitter which says that under the Balochistan Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960, PTM leaders, including Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir, are barred from entering Balochistan for 90 days. The notice has supposedly been issued “in the best interest of public peace and safety”.

Airport officials said on Saturday that the last returning flight from Quetta to Islamabad had taken off before Mr Dawar’s arrival.

Local PTM leader Khalil Ahmed said Mr Dawar wanted to visit the city to offer condolences to families of those people who died during the recent violent incident at Chaman border.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2020