SHANGLA/CHARSADDA: Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen has said the only objective of their struggle is to secure the rights of Pakhtuns and force the ‘state’ to stop human rights violations against them.

He said PTM was struggling to ensure provision of fundamental rights to Pakhtuns and establish lasting peace in their land.

He made the remarks while addressing his first-ever public meeting in Aloch area of Puran tehsil in Shangla on Tuesday night.

He said poor workers from Shangla lost their lives in coal mine incidents across the country, but unfortunately no one brought a bill in the parliament to ensure safety and welfare of the mineworkers.

Visits Shangla, Charsadda to invite people for Oct 11 jirga in Khyber

“PTM is striving to gather Pakhtuns on a single platform to foil conspiracies against them,” Mr Pashteen said.

He said the PTM leadership visited Shangla as part of their province-wide campaign to unite Pakhtuns and invite them to the Pakhtun Qaumi Jirga to be held in Khyber district on October 11.

Mr Pashteen questioned why only the Pakhtuns’ land was targeted in the war against the so-called terrorism. “Today, in the southern districts of KP and in Balochistan, mothers, wives, brothers, daughters and sons are waiting for the return of their loved ones, who have gone missing,” he said.

Meanwhile, addressing a gathering in Charsadda, PTM chief Manzoor Pashteen said Pakhtuns would go to any extent to get their rights.

He was in Charsadda to invite people to attend the Pakhtun Qaumi Jirga on October 11.

He asked the youth and elders to fully participate in the jirga.

Mazdoor Kisan Party chairman Salar Fayyaz Ali, Bacha Khan Trust chairman Syed Masoom Shah Bacha, Nazif Lala and others also attended the meeting.

Mr Pashteen said the jirga would go ahead despite arrests and obstacles being created by the authorities to thwart the event.

He declared the present government as the ‘puppet of the military establishment’.

He said PTM was out to unit Pakhtuns on one platform to push for establishment of peace on their soil. He said the Qami Jirga would be televised in more than 50 countries.

Meanwhile, a local court in Swabi ordered the release of five activists of PTM on bail on Wednesday.

They included PTM Swabi coordinator Usman Khan, Dr Mohammad Jasim, Swabi tehsil coordinator Farhad Ahmed, Chota Lahor coordinator Mehran Pashteen and Ahmad Pashteen Yar.

A PTM legal team comprising Salim Khan, Ishfaq Khan, Haroon Khan, Waseem Shah and Sohail Shakir pleaded their case.

The arrested PTM activists were brought to the court of Judicial Magistrate Swabi-I Syed Wahaj Ali, who accepted their bail plea and ordered their release.

The police had booked the leaders for holding a public meeting in Razaar on Sept 5 in preparations for the party’s Oct 11 jirga in Khyber.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2024