Interior Minister Ijaz Shah, while commenting on the recent arrests of various leaders of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), said that those who break the country’s laws will be punished accordingly.
In an interview with BBC Urdu , Shah said: “They are Pakistani citizens. They have violated the law of the country, and they were arrested. As far as the Pashtuns are concerned, they stand with this government. The [Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf] has a two-thirds majority [in KP]. Imran Khan is more popular in tribal and Pashtun areas than he is in his own district. No other political leader has done what he [Imran] has done for the merger of tribal districts and for bringing the Pashtun into the mainstream. So then who is their leader, Pashteen or Imran,” he questioned. Why do protesters of peaceful protests always get charged on the basis of sedition? In November last year, when the student solidarity march deamnding the restoration of student unions took place, Academics like Ammar Ali Jan were under sedition. The same thing has happened once again. Yesterday, on Tuesday, a peaceful protest was carried out demanding the release of PTM’s Manzoor Pashteen. Islamabad protesters were arrested including the leader of PTM. Why is it that this happens? We call out our neighbours for suppressing the voices of reason, when we’re doing the exact same thing. also read: Police abducted student activist,Mohsin Abdali & hasn’t disclosed the police station he’s kept at