President Ashraf Ghani calls ‘Pashtun Long March’ historical, says its aim is to mobilise citizens against fundamentalism and terrorism in the region.
New Delhi: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani caused a political stir Friday as he lent his support to the ‘Pashtun Long March’ that is being held in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad against the alleged extrajudicial killing of Pashtun shopkeeper Naqeebullah Mehsud in Karachi last month.
Hundreds of tribal men from Waziristan in Pakistan are taking part in the protest that has entered its 11th day.
Ghani tweeted, “I fully support the historical #PashtunLongMarch in Pakistan. The main purpose of which is to mobilise citizens against fundamentalism and terrorism in the region.”
Mehsud was an aspiring model who was killed in an alleged police encounter in Karachi on 13 January. He was charged with militancy and links with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Militant Islamic State, by senior superintendent of police Rao Anwar, who allegedly carried out the encounter.
An inquiry team was formed to investigate the killing, which found that Mehsud was innocent and killed in a fake encounter.
On 26 January, young Pashtuns from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) began a long march from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Islamabad as a form of protest against what is being termed as the Pashtun genocide, human rights violations, enforced disappearances in FATA and state-imposed militarism and terrorism. They were joined by 10,000 fellow Pashtuns from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
On 4 February, thousands of Pashtun activists gathered outside the Press Club in Islamabad and stage a protest against human rights violations in their community.
Their key demand is arresting and punishing police officer Anwar who allegedly kidnapped and killed Mehsud.
Other demands include removal of all landmines from Waziristan and the rest of the tribal belt, producing all the so-called “missing persons”, tribesmen who have allegedly been taken into custody by the state security agencies, removal of security check posts, where tribesmen have to prove their identity each time they enter their villages and towns, as well as ending the frequent curfews on the movement of locals in the name of security.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has assured the protesters that justice will be done in the case. Other Pakistani politicians such as Asfandyar Wali Khan, chief of the Awami National Party, and Mahmood Khan Achakzai, head of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, have also lent their support to the Pashtun March.
Besides President Ashraf Ghani, many political figures in Afghanistan have also come out in support of the Pashtun Long March, including his political adviser Akram Khpalwak and former National Directorate of Security chief Rahmatullah Nabil.
