3 killed in police-PTM jirga face-off

PESHAWAR: There persons were killed and 15 injured on Wednesday as police faced off with the members with the activists of outlawed Pakhtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) at the venue of the jirga on the boundary between Khyber district and the provincial capital on Wednesday.

A large number of workers of the PTM have set up tents near Regi Lalma on the Khyber district side, close to the boundary with Peshawar.

The PTM has convened a three-day grand jirga of all the Pakhtuns across the country and abroad on October 11 to discuss various challenges being faced by the nation.

Sources said heavy contingents of police arrived at the venue of the jirga in trucks and fired tear gas shells and shots into the air to disperse the workers belonging to different parts of the country. The jirga organisers and participants claimed that police had seized their tents and other good Tuesday night. However, the police and jirga people came face to face in the morning. The activists reclaimed the jirga venue. The clash left fifteen people injured, including Sikandar, Khalil and Ramzan who died at hospital.

The workers as well as a number of local elders have refused to vacate the place and expressed their commitment of holding the jirga on the scheduled dates. The local elders also condemned the police action against their guests.

The federal government has declared PTM as a proscribed organisation, banning all its activities.

Meanwhile, Awami National Party president Aimal Wali Khan, provincial president Mian Iftikhar Hussain and others condemned the use of force against PTM.

“Firing on peaceful organizers of Jirga under PTM in Khyber is barbaric.

Jirga is a part of Pakhtun traditions so under which law it is being banned,” questioned Mian Iftikhar. He said there are reports that three people have been killed and many are injured in the firing incident.

“The injuries of Pakhtuns suffered by terrorism should be treated and not increased,” he added.

Meanwhile, the treasury and opposition benches in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Wednesday agreed to form a joint committee of the House to probe the prevailing situation in the province.

The firing incident in the Khyber district echoed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Wednesday.

The lawmakers asked the speaker of the provincial assembly to constitute a special committee to probe why and on whose directives the police and Frontier Constabulary opened fire on the participants of a peaceful event to be held in Khyber tribal district on October 11.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Agriculture Muhammad Sajjad, Minister for Higher Education Meena Khan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA from Khyber Abdul Ghani while Adnan Wazir from Jamiat Ulema-e--Islam-Fazl, Nisar Baz and Arbab Usman from Awami National Party (ANP), Ahmad Karim Kundi from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Sardar Shah Jehan from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) spoke on the assembly floor and condemned the firing incident in Khyber.

Muhammad Sajjad said that under a preplanned conspiracy, the federal government had created the current situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to put the blame on the PTI-led government in the province.

“The federal government through the Interior Ministry had not only put a ban on a particular organization but also directed the law-enforcement agencies to disperse the peaceful participants of a jirga,” he said, adding that opposition members in KP Assembly were in power in the Centre.

Provincial Minister Meena Khan suggested a representative committee of the House comprising Leader of the House, opposition leader and parliamentary party leaders to probe the incident that took place in Khyber.

He said the Pakhtun Qaumi Jirga was announced about three months ago but neither the federal government nor the ruling parties in the Centre had raised this issue but at the eleventh hour proscribed the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM).

Abdul Ghani Afridi and Suhail Afridi of the PTI from Khyber district also condemned firing, saying that the PTI would support Pakhtun jirga for the rights, reconciliation and peace on the soil of the Pakhtuns.

Nisar Baz Khan of ANP said the district administration had imposed Section 144 in Khyber district on the directives of the provincial government while the police and law-enforcement agencies had arrested dozens of PTM workers and activists.

“The provincial government should not absolve itself of the present situation as the district administration and police come under the domain of the provincial government,” he said and added that the inspector general of police and chief secretary of the province should be summoned and questioned that on whose directives the situation had reached to this alarming position.

“The federal as well as provincial governments are run on the dictation of establishment,” he added.

Ahmad Karim Kundi of PPP said the political parties and elected governments must resolve the issue through negotiations as violence and use of power was not solution to any problem.

“The entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa particularly southern districts of the province has become no-go areas where the provincial government has lost its writ,” he said.

He added the opposition parties would support any move of the government for permanent peace and stability.

Speaker Babar Saleem Swati in his ruling said that he would announce a special committee tonight (Wednesday) where the chief secretary, IGP and advocate general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would brief the committee members on the prevailing situation in the province. The sitting was adjourned till Thursday afternoon.

In a statement, Adviser to Chief Minister on Information, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, said the KP government was trying to resolve the issue peacefully after the clash between the PTM and police in the Khyber district.

He said that the federal government had outlawed the PTM under the Anti-Terrorism Act, adding as per the notification, the PTM was involved in activities against the state and constitution.

Barrister Saif, who is also the spokesman for the KP government, said as per law, a proscribed organization could not be allowed to hold political gatherings or rallies.

He said Section 144 was enforced in the Khyber district after the banned PTM announced to hold a gathering there. “Today the banned organization tried to arrange a gathering which led to a clash and unfortunate incident,” he said, while alluding to the firing and injuries.

Barrister Saif said Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had summoned the elected representatives for consultation. “Contacts are being established with the tribal elders and the parties to resolve the issue peacefully as per the chief minister’s directives,” he went on to add.

He said the KP government was making all efforts to keep the situation under control as protecting the people in KP was the government’s responsibility.

“The chief minister is trying to resolve the issue under his supervision through the Jirga. All the parties are being invited to the Jirga,” said the spokesman for the KP government.

Meanwhile, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) granted time to the lawyer representing the PTM to prepare arguments on the maintainability of a petition challenging the federal government’s decision to ban the organisation.

The court directed the petitioners to present arguments on whether the petition was admissible at this stage, while also instructing the federal government to provide reasons for the ban on PTM leaders within three days.

A two-member bench comprising Justice SM Attique Shah and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah heard the petition filed by PTM member Masoom Shah.