The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Tuesday prohibited its officials and employees from engaging with the three-day Pashtoon Qaumi Jirga organised by the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) and issued a public warning against any association, a notification said.
On Sunday, the federal government imposed a ban on the PTM, citing threats to national peace and security.
The party was declared “unlawful” under Section 11B of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 1997, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan. A notification issued by the interior ministry mentioned that the PTM posed a “significant danger” to public order and safety in the country.
The move comes in the lead-up to the Pashtoon Qaumi Jirga, scheduled for October 11 in Khyber district.
A notification issued today from the office of the KP chief secretary, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, said the PTM had shown its intent to hold an event, adding that neither a “proscribed organisation” holding an event nor participation in it were permissible under the law.
It ordered that the following instructions be implemented: “Employees of all government departments/attached departments/police/autonomous and semi-autonomous public sector institutions and their employees are informed, and stand informed, that participation, overt or covert, physically, financially or otherwise in any programme or activity of a proscribed organisation is unlawful and shall be acted against under the law.
“The heads shall ensure that this fact/legal position is communicated to all employees under their respective commands.”
It continued: “General public, including all segments of society are informed, and stand informed, that participation, overt or covert, physically, financially or otherwise in any programme or activity of a proscribed organisation is unlawful and will make them liable to lawful action.”
The notification further said that the following “fact” should also be known, adding that the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) “has also extended its support to the activities of the proscribed PTM and therefore any participation, overt or covert, will make the individual so participating facilitator/supporter of a terrorist organisation working against the state and people of Pakistan and shall be acted against under the law”.
The notification ordered that the information department should ensure that “this fact/legal position is made known to public at large, including all segments of society through announcement on media, including print, electronic, and social.
“Students are vulnerable to propaganda on account of their tender age and need to be educated on the consequences of participation, overt or covert, physically, financially or otherwise in any programme or activity of a proscribed organisation by the vice chancellors of public and private sector universities, the principals of public and private sector college on immediate basis. Higher Education Department shall ensure that this fact and legal position is made known to the students by their respective vice chancellors/principals /heads of educational institutions.
“All administrative and police officers shall take appropriate measures in accordance with law to ensure that directions contained herein are implemented in letter and spirit.”
Separately, Khyber Deputy Commissioner (DC) Captain (retired) Sanaullah Khan issued an order imposing Section 144 in the district for 30 days.
Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is a legal provision that empowers district administrations to prohibit an assembly of four or more people in an area for a limited period. It is usually imposed to prevent potential disturbances, maintain law and order, and curb any activities that might escalate into violence.
The order, a copy of which is seen by Dawn.com, said there were serious threats which could affect the lives and property of the general public due to the present security situation and threat alerts received from various sources and as discussed during the meeting of the District Intelligence Coordination Committee.
“It is therefore of prime importance to take precautionary measures to ensure peace and safety of the general public. In view of the above, it is important to avoid huge public gatherings etc. in district Khyber so as to discourage miscreants from creating disturbances and compromising peace and public safety.
“The undersigned is satisfied that in order to maintain peace and law and order situation, there is a need to impose ban on unlawful/illegal assembly/gathering of more than five persons and display of weapons in the territorial jurisdiction of district Khyber.”
The DC said that he was imposing a ban on the unlawful gathering/assembly of more than five people and the display of weapons within the territorial jurisdiction of the Khyber district for a 30-day period with immediate effect from Oct 9 to November 7.
The order warned that anyone found violating it would be proceeded against under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) within the respective area of the district’s jurisdiction.
Diehard activists assembled at the venue of their three-day jirga in Jamrud on Sunday evening in clear defiance of the federal government’s order to declare the PTM a proscribed organisation.
They said that they would now “hold their ground” until Oct 11, when the event would begin with thousands of delegates reaching the jirga venue in separate processions from across the province and Balochistan.
Sources in Jamrud had said that Khyber police were given instructions about starting a process of profiling PTM workers and sympathisers in the district while also initiating a crackdown on them once their whereabouts were established.
Meanwhile, a statement from KP government spokesperson Barrister Saif said the provincial government was following the agenda of the rule of law.
“The federal government has declared an organisation as proscribed. We are the defenders of Pakistan and its flag and Constitution. We are proud of the actions and sacrifices of the defence agencies against terrorism,” he said.
However, Barrister Saif questioned the silence of federal representatives on the issue, saying: “The sad thing is that the federal representatives are hiding their faces at the moment.”
“The representatives of the government coalition have kept silence on these issues,” he said, asking where KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi or Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Kashmir Affairs Engineer Amir Muqam were.
He questioned why they were not talking about or addressing the matter of the organisation proscribed by the federal government.
“What is the reason that the representatives of these parties are not talking in the provincial assembly?
“The mandate thieves are making anti-government statements and are flaunting their politics on this sensitive issue,” Barrister Saif hit out.
Meanwhile, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the ban on the PTM was imposed on the basis of evidence that showed its close contacts with terrorist organisations and its involvement in a campaign against the country.
The minister brushed aside speculations about the ban. He pointed out that the PTM’s past practices included the burning of the flag, attacks on Pakistani embassies and its involvement in promoting a narrative against the country under the garb of protecting Pakhtuns.
Tarar said during the investigation into the attack on a Pakistani embassy, it was found that not only PTM workers were involved in this heinous crime, but also some Afghan citizens.
“The PTM has not only been in contact with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Afghanistan, but also the proscribed TTP,” he added.
The minister said there was no restriction on anyone to protest or criticise but no one would be allowed to burn the national flag, attack embassies and keep contact with terrorist organisations.
“If an ideology is promoted among the youth on the basis of falsehoods that undermine the state’s efforts and damage the ideology of Pakistan, such actions will not be tolerated,” he said, adding any political party found engaging with the PTM, whether through funding, opening joint accounts or transferring money, would face the consequences.
The minister, while acknowledging the significant contribution of Pakhtuns in the Pakistan movement and establishment of an independent homeland, regretted some elements using their name to malign Pakistan’s security, integrity and sovereignty.
“Pakistan comes first as I reiterated time and again,” he said, adding that the ban on PTM was a lesson for the PTI which believed that there was no Pakistan without party founder Imran Khan.
Separately, Amnesty International called on Pakistani authorities to revoke the ban on the PTM, calling it “an affront on the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly in the country.”
“The listing of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement as a proscribed organisation, days ahead of their gathering scheduled on October 11, is part of a systematic and relentless clampdown by the Pakistani authorities on peaceful protests and assemblies by dissenting groups,” Amnesty International said in a statement.
Under the wide powers of the ATA, the Pakistan government can designate any organisation as proscribed “based on information received from any credible source”, the statement read.
However, the government had failed to provide any concrete evidence in this regard about the PTM, it went on to say, adding that the Act also allowed for the decision to be made “ex parte”, without a hearing or representations of those being proscribed.
On Oct 1 and 2, authorities used teargas and firearms to dismantle a peaceful protest camp in Jamrud, Khyber district, Amnesty said.
“Nearly 100 PTM activists have been arrested and detained since Oct 1 under the MPO, which allows for preventative detention and up to three years of imprisonment for any speech that can cause fear or alarm to the public”, the body added.
Further, 16 students from the University of Malakand, who were canvassing and preparing to join the PTM gathering, were arrested on Oct 4 under charges of obstructing a public official on duty, criminal conspiracy, breach of peace and “public mischief” under the PPC, according to the statement.
PTM leader Ali Wazir remains under detention since August 3, the statement said. Last week, he was released on bail but re-arrested from outside the jail despite the Lahore High Court declaring his detention illegal under the MPO, it added.
“Amnesty International urges the Pakistani authorities to respect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and refrain from obstructing the Pashtun Qaumi Jirga. All PTM activists and supporters who have been arbitrarily detained and arrested must be immediately released.”
