PESHAWAR: The statement by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s spokesman Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif on Wednesday night that the proscribed Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement couldn’t be allowed to hold a jirga in the province threw the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s provincial leadership and cadres into an outrage.

Several PTI lawmakers, leaders and workers took to the social media to vent out their anger at the killing of PTM activists in the Khyber police firing.

They also made announcements they would attend the funeral of the deceased.

Provincial ministers and provincial assembly members also condemned those fatalities on the floor of the house.

They also condemn killing of banned organisation’s activists in Khyber police firing

Mr Saif issued a video statement around 9pm on Wednesday, declaring that since the federal government has banned PTM, the organisation can’t be allowed to hold any jirga in the province.

The announcement added fuel to the fire, with several party leaders lambasting Mr Saif. Majority of them considered the statement to be in violation of the stand of both the provincial government and PTI’s political committee.

Several senior PTI leaders, including party’s provincial general secretary Ali Asghar Khan, former lawmaker Murad Saeed, MNAs Ali Mohammad Khan, Junaid Akbar, Sher Ali Arbab and Gul Zafar Khan, former provincial minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra, PTI Peshawar region president Mohammad Asim Khan, PTI Peshawar president Irfan Saleem, and other leaders took the social media to criticise the crackdown.

Higher education minister Meena Khan Afridi told Dawn that whatever was said by them on the floor of the provincial assembly and the statement issued by the political committee was the PTI policy on the issue.

He said before the federal government banned PTM, the chief minister met the organisation’s chief, Manzoor Pashteen, and asked him not to allow sloganeering against the army and bringing of Afghan flags to the venue among other things.

Mr Afridi said that the PTM chief accepted the chief minister’s request.

He said the chief minister had also asked the federal government to avoid adventurism in the province.

“Following Wednesday’s incidents, our chief minister remained in office until midnight to arrange Thursday’s multi-party jirga to avoid further bloodshed,” he said.

The minister said the PTI had a very clear position on the issue but he was not sure why the government’s spokesperson issued that controversial announcement.

PTI district Peshawar president Irfan Saleem criticised the provincial government’s spokesperson and declared him the security establishment’s “tout” after the issuance of the statement.

He said PTI founder Imran Khan endorsed the PTM’s demands and vehemently opposed the “war” in tribal districts since 2002.

“Barrister Saif’s statement was unnecessary. He should not have made that statement as he is neither the people’s elected representative nor has he made any contributions to the cause of the party [PTI],” he said.

Mr Saleem said that PTI stood for civilian supremacy and human rights and couldn’t allow other to do what the federal government was doing to the party’s leadership and workers.

He alleged that KP chief secretary and police chief were the federal government’s “puppets” and had been posted to the province for making life difficult for PTI activists.

The PTI leader said that he stood by his statement about Barrister Saif, who was damaging the party.

“We’ll stand with our innocent people for their rights,” he said.

MNA from Malakand Junaid Akbar said perhaps one of the reasons the party’s leadership reacted to the Wednesday events was that the party leadership and workers have been at the receiving end of the state’s coercion. He said that the response from the party’s leadership and workers was spontaneous.

“Our harsh reaction apparently stemmed from our own experience of facing state coercive policies,” he said.

He added that there was no justification for action against PTM like the one taken by the federal and Punjab government against PTI.

“The state’s oppression can’t end people’s movements and instead, the state’s brutality increases people’s support for them,” he said.

Several PTI leaders attended the funeral prayers of PTM workers, who died in the police firing.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2024