PESHAWAR: Police on Friday arrested scores of the Pakhtun Tahaffuz Movement activists in different parts of the province ahead of their demonstration in Islamabad on human rights issues in the country, including enforced disappearances.

They were later freed, however.

The Swat police held several PTM activists under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance and shifted them to the Saidu Sharif Jail.

The police said the arrests were made after the deputy commissioner issued warrants for activists under the MPO.

Families of the detainees said their young members were taken away by the police after raids on their houses late at night.

They all were released later

The detainees included Idrees Bacha, Mir Inam Khan advocate, Malik Rafi, Mohammad Rahim Khan and other peace activists.

The police also raided the house of Attaullah Jan but he was away.

The Swat Bar Association’s cabinet members met the DC and DPO and complained about the arrests under MPO. All detainees were later released.

Also, the police in Mohmand tribal district took over 50 PTM activists into custody at the district headquarters as the latter were on the way to Islamabad to attend the demonstration.

Shouting slogans outside the Mohmand Press Club building, they said they wouldn’t be intimidated by threats and would continue fighting for their rights.

The detainees were later freed after a rally was staged on the Peshawar-Bajaur Highway in Ghalanai area.

They claimed that the police tortured them in “illegal” custody.

Village council chairman Akbar Ali, founder of Haq Du Tehreek Abdul Majeed and PTM activists said they’re going to Islamabad to stage a peace rally outside the Supreme Court building on the call of their leader, Manzoor Pashteen.

They demanded of the government to build the Karapa Road, open the Pak-Afghan trade route, do away with power cuts and provide them with basic facilities of life and warned if their demands weren’t met, they would continue taking to the streets to claim rights.

In Jamrud area of Khyber tribal district, the police briefly detained over 40 PTM activists to block their participation in the Islamabad protest.

Local PTM leader Aftab Shinwari told Dawn that around 45 activists of his group were on the way to Islamabad when the police stopped them at Takhtabeg checkpost.

“We’re kept at the checkpost for around four hours and released only half an hour before the Islamabad demonstration started,” he said, adding that the activists managed to join the protest.

Meanwhile, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party provincial president Dr Mohammad Ali condemned the police’s crackdown on his party’s PTM activists in the province.

In a statement issued here, Dr Mohammad Ali said the arrest of political workers had caused serious concerns about the status of democratic rights and liberties in the country.

“The detention of political workers, including prominent PkMAP and PTM leaders, violates their fundamental entitlement to both freedom of speech and their right to engage in peaceful political assembly. This sequence of events ominously mirrors an environment reminiscent of quasi-martial law, where contrarian voices find themselves suppressed, and the very essence of democratic tenets compromised,” he said.

The PkMAP leader said his party urged authorities to prioritise the protection of people’s rights and exercise restraint instead of resorting to “heavy-handed tactics.”

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2023