KHYBER: Speakers at a rally in Bara tehsil here on Sunday called for effective steps to establish durable peace in the Khyber district.

The peace rally was organised under the banner of Pakhtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), which was also attended by activists of other political organisations and parties.

Speaking on the occasion, PTM head Manzoor Pashteen regretted that ‘an atmosphere was intentionally created on Pakhtuns’ soil in order to attract militancy and extremism and deprive the people of their legitimate rights and due share in the natural resources’.

He called upon all the political forces to join hands in forcing the government to restore peace in the bordering regions and put an end to militancy and extremism.

He said that PTM would continue to educate Pakhtuns about their legitimate constitutional rights while also safeguarding their historic and time-tested traditions and history.

“Unfortunately Pashtu language, Pakhtun history and culture are not given due share and space in our national educational curriculum,” he regretted and termed it as a historic injustice.

The participants of the rally demanded recovery of all the missing persons while insisting that if these people were guilty of any wrongdoing, they should be presented before the court of law.

They said the Pakhtuns could no longer tolerate injustice to them and lawlessness on their soil and would continue to raise their voices in a peaceful manner.

They also expressed their displeasure over the ‘unwarranted’ raids on the houses of local residents in the name of search operations and called for an immediate halt to what they called an unlawful act, which was also against local culture and traditions.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2022