By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Interior Ministry has banned the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), a prominent ethnic rights group, saying it is involved in activities prejudicial to national peace and security.
The ministry notified the ban under Section 11B of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
In a notification issued on Sunday, the ministry said it has “reasons to believe” the PTM is engaged in “certain activities which are prejudicial to the peace and security of the country.”
The notification did not elaborate on the specific activities but stated the PTM poses a “significant danger” to public order and safety.
“NOW, THEREFORE, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 11B of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 (XXVII of 1997), the Federal Government is pleased to list the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) in the First Schedule as a proscribed organization for the purposes of the said Act,” the notification read.
The move comes ahead of the PTM-initiated Pashtoon Qaumi Jirga, scheduled for Oct. 11.
In recent days, security agencies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have raided PTM camps, sparking controversy. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi questioned the need for a police crackdown, saying it was carried out by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police without interior ministry orders.
The PTM, originally formed as the Mehsud Tahafuz Movement in 2014, campaigns against alleged extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of Pashtuns and other ethnic minorities in Pakistan.
The group accuses Pakistan’s powerful military of rights abuses in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The movement came under severe criticism from the ruling establishment, which accused it of fomenting unrest and working at the behest of foreign agencies.
The PTM gained national attention after protesting the 2018 police killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, an aspiring model, in Karachi. Leaders Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir were elected to parliament in 2018.
Reactions to the ban were swift, with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan stating that the “extreme decision was neither transparent nor warranted”.
“The PTM is a rights-based movement that has never resorted to violence and always used the framework of the Constitution to advocate its cause,” the commission added.
Ex-MNA Mohsin Dawar, who previously belonged to the PTM, condemned the move, saying, “This sends a message to families of missing persons and those demanding human rights that the State doesn’t believe in peaceful struggles.”
Former Awami National Party (ANP) leader Afrasiab Khattak described the ban as “a typical colonial act against an oppressed people.”
The Awami Workers Party warned it would “antagonise and alienate the war-torn Pashtun people and provide space for far-right militancy.”
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
