Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Pashtuns will have to fight to secure their legitimate rights as enshrined in the constitution, Manzoor Pashteen, leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), told thousands of participants of a rally in Peshawar on Sunday.

“Common Pashtun is the major victim of the so-called war on terror. PTM will hold a historic Radd-ul-Fasad public gathering in Lahore on April 22 while Rah-e-Raast meeting will be held on April 29 in Swat to disseminate the message of peace,” he told the participants.

He said it was right time for Pashtuns to rise against injustices meted out to them for over a decade now. “We will make killer Rao Anwar stand before the court of law. After Rao, we will drag Ihsanullah Ihsan, Taliban’s former spokesman, and former dictator Pervez Musharraf to courts. Only then, Pashtuns will realize that they can get justice without any discrimination,” he added.

Pashteen said the so-called war on terror had badly damaged their businesses, shutting down some factories in Peshawar amid capital flight from the Pashtun inhibited areas. He said that the PTM is all poised to go after all ‘rascals and criminals’ to ensure that the poor and the helpless get justice and their due rights. “Be ready!After Eid-ul-Fitr, I will bring you people to my hometown in South Waziristan to hold a public gathering there so as you can observe for yourself the devastation caused by the decade-long so-called war on terror,” he told the charged crowd.

Pashteen vowed that they would protect the war-weary Pashtuns and not allow the war on terror to cause further destruction to their properties and lives.”My colleague Ali Wazir has lost 13 of his family members including his father, brothers and uncles to the brutal waves of insurgency … this dirty game should be stopped forthwith,” he said.

A huge number of woman family members of missing persons were present in the rally, holding placards and pictures of their loved ones and demanding their immediate release. The mobile and internet services remained suspended throughout the five-hour long gathering. Baton-wielding police personnel as well as PTM’s own volunteers were deployed to ensure security at the venue. Walkthrough gates were installed on the entrance of the venue to avoid any untoward incident.

Published in Daily Times, April 9^th 2018.