PESHAWAR: The government in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has allowed the recently banned Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) to hold a three-day grand council of its political and tribal elders to resolve issues facing the Pashtun communities in the country’s volatile northwest and elsewhere, a KP provincial minister said on Friday.
Founded in 2014, the PTM has long advocated against extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of Pashtuns and other ethnic minorities in Pakistan, charges the government and the military deny. The group has been waging a campaign to force the military to leave the former tribal regions in the northwest that border Afghanistan.
On Monday, the Pakistani government banned the PTM and said the group supported the Pakistani Taliban. It also banned PTM rallies in the restive northwest, saying the demonstrations were against the “interests of Pakistan.” Despite the announcement of the ban, the PTM, which denies backing the Pakistani Taliban, said it would go ahead with plans to hold the Pashtun National Jirga on October 11 to discuss peace and security in KP.
A day before the PTM gathering, a separate assembly of political and tribal leaders, held under the patronage of the KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur in Peshawar, threw its weight behind the CM to resolve the conflict “through dialogue and understanding,” KP government spokesperson Muhammad Ali Saif said, without mentioning how the KP government planned to deal with the PTM’s gathering.
“Peace, development and prosperity is a mutual agenda of all of us,” KP Public Health Minister Pakhtoon Yar Khan told reporters in the Khyber tribal district, where the PTM has summoned its grand jirga.
“The Pashtun National Jirga has been given permission. They will remain within the ambit of law and the constitution, participants will present the demands.”
He said the grand council in Khyber was not an individual’s, but a Pashtun assembly.
“The PTI [the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party in KP] does not believe in violence, will solve the problems of Pashtuns peacefully,” Khan added.
On Wednesday, at least three people were killed in clashes between Pakistani police and supporters of the PTM rights group in Khyber’s Jamrood area, two days after the federal government banned the PTM.
In a post on X in the wee hours of Friday, the Pashtun National Jirga said the last few weeks had been “extremely challenging” for Pashtun rights activists working for the October 11 gathering.
“Tonight, Pashtuns are persevering under testing conditions,” it said on the night between Thursday and Friday. “It is a sign of our determination.”
This week, Amnesty International, a global human rights watchdog, called on the Pakistan government to revoke the ban on the PTM.
The “latest arbitrary ban under over-broad powers of the terror law is only the tip of the iceberg,” Babu Ram Pant, Amnesty’s deputy regional director for South Asia, said on Wednesday, accusing the Pakistani authorities of “resorting to unlawful use of force, enforced disappearances, and media bans on the coverage of protests or rallies.”
Authorities in northwestern Pakistani province allow ‘banned’ Pashtun group to hold grand council
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Authorities in northwestern Pakistani province allow ‘banned’ Pashtun group to hold grand council
- Founded in 2014, the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement has long advocated against extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of Pashtuns and other ethnic minorities in Pakistan
- At least three people were killed in clashes between Pakistani police and PTM supporters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, two days after the federal government banned the PTM
Pakistan PM to attend World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Switzerland next month
- The WEF meeting, scheduled to be held in Davos on Jan. 19-23, will focus on global challenges, public-private dialogue and cooperation
- Government, business, civil society and academia leaders will engage in forward-looking discussions to address these issues, set priorities
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will travel to Switzerland next month to attend the 56th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Pakistani state media reported on Monday.
The WEF annual meeting, themed as ‘A Spirit of Dialogue,’ will be held from Jan. 19 to Jan. 23 in Davos, where world leaders from government, business, civil society and academia will engage in forward-looking discussions to address global issues and set priorities.
Prime Minister Sharif is expected to interact with global leaders and investors on economic challenges, regional and international issues and various opportunities for cooperation.
On Monday, Deputy PM Ishaq Dar presided over a meeting in Islamabad to oversee preparations for Sharif’s upcoming visit to Switzerland to attend the WEF meeting, the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.
“Dar instructed to maximize the engagements with the incoming Heads of States, Governments and senior leadership of economic, business and financial institutions,” the report read.
The WEF meeting program will be structured around key global challenges where public-private dialogue and cooperation, involving all stakeholders, is necessary for progress, according to the WEF website.
In addressing these challenges, growth, resilience and innovation will serve as cross-cutting imperatives, guiding how leaders engage with today’s complexity and pursue tomorrow’s opportunities.
Pakistani foreign ministry officials briefed the deputy PM about preparations for the WEF meeting, according to Radio Pakistan. The participants of Monday’s meeting in Islamabad discussed in detail the bilateral component and media engagements during the visit.
“He [Dar] further stressed that opportunities be explored to foster collaboration with private sector business entities,” the state broadcaster said.
