PESHAWAR: Rejecting the federal government’s ban on the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan on Thursday said authorities should address the proscribed rights movement’s grievances.

Talking to reporters on the premises of the Peshawar High Court here, Mr Omar condemned the killing of four PTM activists in the Khyber police firing and claimed that the firing on a peaceful jirga was carried out on the orders of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, interior minister Mohsin Naqvi, and intelligence agencies.

The opposition leader was accompanied by PTI MNA Zain Qureshi. They filed petitions seeking protective bail in cases registered against them after the recent PTI protests at Islamabad’s D-Chowk.

The court is likely to hear their pleas today (Friday).

Omar rejects ban on PTM

Mr Omer said that the PTI activists had been victims of the federal government’s fascism as concocted cases were registered against them.

“Our contact with imprisoned leader and former prime minister Imran Khan has been blocked on the orders of intelligence agencies and the federal government,” he said.

The opposition leader said instead of addressing the grievances of the PTM, the government had banned it and thus, aggravating the situation.

He said that things would become normal once detained PTI founder Imran Khan was freed and became the prime minister again.

The opposition leader rejected the constitutional amendments proposed bythe government and said the move was meant to extend the employment term of Supreme Court Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

He demanded the nomination of the next chief justice of Pakistan in line with the existing procedure.

Supporting the holding of the Pashtun Jirga by the PTM in Khyber tribal district, Mr Omar said that Jirga was a traditional institution where aggrieved persons came and put forward their grievances.

He added that according to Pashtun traditions aggrieved persons were embraced, their grievances heard and tried to be resolved.

The opposition leader said that the grievances of the protesting Pashtun and Baloch should be addressed.

He criticised interior minister Mohsin Naqvi and alleged that the minister ordered a crackdown on PTI supporters and arrest of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur during D-Chowk protests, but when he (Naqvi) had got stuck in difficult situations, he visited Peshawar to seek “forgiveness” of Mr Gandapur.

“Mr Gandapur might forgive you [Naqvi], but we [PTI] won’t,” he said.

He claimed that his house was raided on the interior minister’s orders , thus, violating the sanctity of the premises.

Mr Omar claimed that Mohsin Naqvi was directly issuing orders to the KP chief secretary and inspector general of police and therefore, the provincial government had decided to amend the Police Act for curtailing certain powers of the police chief.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2024