PkMAP general secy says Achakzai punished for National Assembly speech

QUETTA: Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) General Secretary Abdul Rahim Khan Ziaratwal on Monday said his party would stage protests across the nation today against the alleged raid at the house of party Chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai, who’s also a presidential nominee.

The PkMAP general secretary said a security guard was nabbed during the "raid" at the presidential candidate’s house. Ziaratwal said Achakzai was punished for his National Assembly speech, in which he lambasted the establishment.

On the other hand, the local administration has denied raiding a house saying it only got a public property vacated near the PkMAP leader’s house on Quarry Road, Quetta.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) on March 2 nominated the PKMAP chief Achakzai as their presidential nominee against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, a joint candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and other political parties part of the coalition setup.

Achakzai won the National Assembly seat from the NA-266 constituency in Balochistan's Kila Abdullah-cum-Chaman in the February 8 general elections.

Addressing a press conference along Achakzai in Islamabad, while apprising media about approval of the PkMAP leader’s nomination papers for the post of president, PTI leader Ali Muhammad Khan condemned the raid carried out last night.

He also said the nation stood with the army and the PTI wanted the country to run in accordance with the constitution.

Condemning the raid, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Hafiz Hamdullah said the raid at an elderly politician’s house exposed the puppets. The sanctity of a house was violated during the raid, he said adding that it was against democratic norms to harass a family and raid a house.

Balochistan National Party President Akhtar Mengal also condemned the raid in a tweet on the social media platform, X. "Outraged by the raid on Mahmood Khan Achakzai's residence. Zero tolerance for truth is loud and clear. Strongly condemn," he wrote.

Former PTI leader Shireen Mazari hoped the parliament would not remain silent on the incident.

‘Illegally occupied govt land recovered’

Quetta Deputy Commissioner Saad bin Asad said Achakzai had illegally occupied the government land by putting up walls around it. The Quetta DC confirmed that a person was arrested for pointing weapons at an assistant commissioner and interfering in a public affair.

He said the arrested person laced with illegal weapons was guarding the land.

Former Balochistan caretaker information minister Jan Achakzai, in a hurriedly called press conference, denied the claims of a raid at the PkMAP chairman’s house saying the district administration of Quetta recovered a government land.

He said lands in the city’s outskirts were recovered and the campaign against illegal land occupation would continue in the future as well. The district administration took action on a landlord's complaint and got a plot vacated in front of the veteran politician’s house, he said.

“The revenue department has now been digitised in Balochistan. Action will also be taken against those whose land documents were tampered with. If there is any illegal building, it will also be demolished,” the former caretaker information minister warned.