Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday criticised the recently proscribed Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) for its rhetoric amid reports of violence ahead of the three-day Pashtoon Qaumi Jirga in Khyber district. He said that the government was ready to talk on rights-related issues with anyone if done in a \u201cproper manner\u201d. On Sunday, the federal government imposed a ban on the PTM, citing threats to national peace and security. A day ago, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government prohibited its officials and employees from engaging with the three-day Pashtoon Qaumi Jirga, also called the Pashtun Qaumi Adalat, organised by the PTM and issued a public warning against any association. Khyber Deputy Commissioner retired Captain Sanaullah Khan also imposed Section 144 in the district for 30 days. The move came in the lead-up to the grand jirga, scheduled for October 11 in Khyber district. Diehard activists assembled at the venue of their three-day jirga in Jamrud on Sunday evening in clear defiance of the federal government\u2019s order and vowed to hold the gathering. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on the matter, Naqvi recounted the ban on the group by the federal government and said no one had an issue if people wanted to organise a jirga. \u201cJirgas have been held before and will continue being held and no one has an issue with it. A jirga comprises a gathering of tribal elders, bringing people in the thousands is not called a jirga but something else.\u201d On the one hand, he said that the gathering was being referred to as a jirga and on the other hand, it was being referred to as a court. The security czar said the government decided to not allow a \u201cparallel judicial system\u201d at any cost, adding that the ban was based on the alleged rhetoric by the PTM against state institutions and the police. \u201cYou are talking about division in the nation by promoting ethnic divide. You can definitely [talk] about political topics and rights but \u2026 it cannot be permitted that you try to turn the nation against the institution.\u201d He said he was aware that leaders from a few major political parties had met PTM leaders and expressed solidarity on the issue of rights, but they had made it clear that talking about rights while advocating taking up weapons was not possible. Naqvi said there was no further contact between the two groups after that meeting. \u201cPeople tried to make them (PTM) understand and said if it was a matter of rights then let us all speak as one,\u201d he said, adding that the federal government was also ready to sit down and have talks about human rights with those \u201cwho only talk about rights in a proper manner\u201d. He said it was not possible that \u201cstate institutions were relentlessly slandered for years\u201d and the federal government did nothing and remained silent. \u201cAnyway, it was banned and then the KP government placed 54 people on the Fourth Schedule and Balochistan placed 34.\u201d Including a name in the Fourth Schedule under the Anti-Terrorism Act means the person concerned has become a proscribed person. Restrictions impo\u00adsed on such persons include passport embargo, freezing of bank accounts, a ban on financial support and credit, arms licence embargo, and employment clearance restrictions. He said the federal and provincial governments were bound by the law to seal offices of proscribed organisations and there were many restrictions placed on them such as media, financial services, travel, arms licences and identity documents. \u201cIt has been banned. Now, whoever assists them in any way or tries to help them out will also fall under these sanctions.\u201d The interior minister further alleged that videos and visuals of the PTM were shot by \u201cforeign companies with external funding\u201d. \u201cWhoever masters are behind you, we have a clear message for them that if you do this (spread division) in our country, then we will treat you accordingly\u201d, Naqvi asserted. \u201cThen don\u2019t expect that you will try to spread discord in our country and we will remain silent. The same is the message for the anarchists that there will be no forgiveness.\u201d Naqvi said intrigue and taking up arms against the country could not be allowed. PHC bars PTM from holding gathering Earlier today, a two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) restrained the PTM from holding the jirga on disputed land, directing the police to take action to maintain law and order. The PHC issued a stay order to stop the event on the disputed land and adjourned the case till October 15. The bench consisted of Justice Attiq Shah and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah. The additional attorney general told the court that the PTM was banned by the federal government and its activity was prohibited under the law. He said that action by law enforcement agencies against any banned organisation was legally permissible, adding that the land being used for the gathering was also disputed. A resident of the district had moved the PHC against the PTM\u2019s jirga. The petitioner Khateer Ullah had listed the federal government, provincial government, inspector general of police and PTM leader Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen as respondents. In his petition, he argued that following the constitutional amendment, all tribal districts had been merged in KP and followed \u201cthe law of land\u201d saying that a national court was unconstitutional in this situation. The petitioner sought a stay order on the illegal jirga until a final decision was reached.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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