Tag: PTM

  • ATC grants bail to Ali Wazir in fourth sedition case

    ATC grants bail to Ali Wazir in fourth sedition case

    Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader and MNA Ali Wazir has been granted post-arrest bail by Karachi’s Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in the fourth sedition case registered against him.

    Wazir has been behind bars since December 31, 2020, for allegedly delivering provocative speeches inciting hate against the state institutions.

    The ATC judge announced the verdict on Wazir’s bail plea after hearing arguments from the defence and prosecution. He directed the applicant to submit a surety of Rs100,000 to secure his release.

    Cases have been registered against Wazir under sections 147 (rioting), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of an offence committed in prosecution of common object), 500 (punishment for defamation), 505 (statement conducing to public mischief), and other sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) read with the Section 7 (Punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

    In November 2021, the Supreme Court granted bail to Wazir in one case lodged against him, along with Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen and other leaders, for delivering incendiary speeches at a rally within the jurisdiction of Sohrab Goth police station.

    Later, the Sindh High Court in May granted him bail in a second identical case lodged at Sohrab Goth police station.

    However, Karachi police had then booked him in a third case lodged at the Shah Latif Town police station against the PTM leaders over alleged hate speech against state institutions.

  • MNA Ali Wazir says he isn’t safe in the hospital, attacked twice

    MNA Ali Wazir says he isn’t safe in the hospital, attacked twice

    Member of National Assembly (MNA) Ali Wazir from South Waziristan has claimed that his life is in danger. Ali Wazir is associated with the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM). He was admitted to Karachi’s Jinnah Postgraduate and Medical Centre on Tuesday, where he was attacked twice according to Wazir. He made this statement while addressing PTM workers outside the hospital.

    In a video, he claimed that he was attacked twice in the hospital, and said he feels unsafe in the hospital. Wazir demanded to be sent back to prison.

    “I should be taken to Islamabad to attend the budget session [in the NA], raise the problems of my constituency,” Wazir said in the video.

    The National Assembly has issued production orders for his release so he could join the ongoing budget session.

    People on social media are reacting to Ali Wazir’s mistreatment:

    Read more- MNA Ali Wazir granted bail ahead of no-confidence motion vote against PM Khan

    He was earlier released from Karachi’s central prison on parole to participate in the no-trust vote against former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

  • Hundreds of PTM workers stage sit-in for release of Ali Wazir

    Hundreds of PTM workers stage sit-in for release of Ali Wazir

    Hundreds of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) workers staged a sit-in outside of Sindh Assembly to demand the release of their leader and Member of National Assembly (MNA) Ali Wazir, reports Dawn News.

    Initially, Deputy Commissioner (DC)-South Irshad Ali Sodhar and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP)-South Rai Ijaz Ahmed tried to prevent the group from marching but eventually allowed the rally to proceed towards the assembly building where it was turned into a sit-in.

    PTM founder and head Manzoor Pashteen said, “The government calls itself a democratic one but we are not being allowed to exercise our democratic rights.”

    Pashteen said that the protest and sit-in would continue till the release of Wazir.

    PTM leader Hidayatullah criticised the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for arresting PTM leaders in false cases. He argued when Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) leaders and workers have been released, why are PTM leaders including MNA Wazir are not being released.

    MNA Wazir and MNA Mohsin Dawar, as well as Pashteen, have been booked for committing sedition by inciting the people to wage a war against the state by delivering provocative speeches against security forces at a rally held in Sohrab Goth on December 6, 2020.

  • Mohsin Dawar launches political party with members of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement

    Member National Assembly (MNA) Mohsin Dawar on Wednesday launched a new political party called the National Democratic Movement (NDM). The new party includes some members of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM).

    NDM’s central organising committee was announced at its first formal meeting in Peshawar. Mohsin Dawar will be the central organiser, Muzamil Shah general secretary and Jamila Gilani information secretary. Abdullah Nangyal, Ibrahim Khan, Haroon Bazai, Anwar Sulemankhel, Aijaz Aslam and Tariq Wazir Khan are also part of the central organising committee.

    NDM’s first press conference was attended by former senator Afrasiab Khattak, former MNA Bushra Gohar and several others. The manifesto of the new political party was also unveiled at the launch. It says that the party’s basic principle is the promotion of a secular federal democratic parliamentary system, among other things. It also states that the NDM believes in upholding civilian constitutional supremacy.

    Talking to The Current, Mohsin Dawar said the NDM will speak for the oppressed and the marginalised from every part of Pakistan. “We believe in supremacy of parliament and we believe in providing space to the youth to lead this movement. We want to steer the country towards equality and progress and will also resist growing militarisation, which is dominating every sphere.”

  • Naqeeb’s brother says Sindh govt trying to save ‘encounter specialist’ Rao Anwar

    Naqeeb’s brother says Sindh govt trying to save ‘encounter specialist’ Rao Anwar

    The Sindh government is helping former Malir SSP Rao Anwar to get a clean chit in the Naqeebullah Mehsud murder case by pressurising the witnesses, alleged Naqeeb’s brother Alam Sher.

    In a press conference alongside his attorney Jibran Nasir, the younger brother alleged that the witnesses were turning hostile at the behest of the Sindh government and the prosecution.

    “The case was registered on behalf of the state, not from the family and if the charges were not proved in the court, the state will lose,” said the attorney.

    Jibran also criticised the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for ignoring an application filed by the family of Naqib to look into the assets of Rao Anwar. “The US and UK have frozen the assets of Anwar besides imposing travel restrictions on him due to human rights violations, but still NAB has refused to investigate the former police officer,” he added.

    Instead of being detained in a jail, he was confined for a short time in the comfort of his own home and given the protocol of a federal minister, Jibran said. If top politicians, like Shehbaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Asif Ali Zardari, could be sent to jail then why can’t they send Anwar to prison, he asked.

    On January 13, 2019, Mehsud and three others were killed in a fake encounter carried out by a police team headed by then Malir SSP Anwar in Karachi. On January 17, his body was handed over to his relatives at the Chhipa Welfare Association morgue in the metropolis.

    The fake encounter had sparked countrywide protests against extrajudicial killings in the country and to bring Anwar to justice.

    Subsequently, the former SSP and around 20 of his subordinates were charged with killing Naqeebullah. In March 2019, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) had framed charges on Anwar and others for the alleged murder of Naqeebullah and implicating him in bogus cases.

    In Dec 2019, On International Human Rights’ Day, Anwar was also blacklisted by the United States for engaging in “serious human rights abuse” by carrying out alleged fake police ‘encounters’ in which scores of individuals including Naqeebullah Mehsud were killed.

  • Manzoor Pashteen released

    Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen, who had been arrested from Shaheen Town of Peshawar in January, was on Tuesday released from jail.

    According to reports, the Pashtun rights activist was arrested in a case registered against him at the City Police Station in Dera Ismail Khan on January 18 under sections 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 120-B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 124 (sedition), and 123-A (condemning the creation of the country and advocating the abolishment of its sovereignty) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

    Later, a sessions court in Tank district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) had granted bail to the PTM chief, while also granting him bail in a similar case by a Dera Ismail Khan court.

    Pashteen’s bail applications in two other cases — also pertaining to sedition — were approved by the DI Khan court on February 8. MNA and PTM’s senior leader Mohsin Dawar had said that Pashteen would be released from jail once legal formalities were completed.

  • Ghinwa Bhutto joins PTM rally

    Ghinwa Bhutto joins PTM rally

    Wife of the late Murtaza Bhutto and Pakistan People’s Party-Shaheed Bhutto (PPP-SB) chairperson Ghinwa Bhutto, in a first, has joined a gathering of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) in Karachi to show solidarity with the rights-based alliance.

    According to reports, the PTM on Sunday held a rally in Karachi to mark the first death anniversary of their comrade Arman Loni — allegedly killed during a police crackdown on a PTM protest in Loralai last year — and also demanded the release of its chief, Manzoor Pashteen.

    PTM had maintained that Loni was killed in a police crackdown and demanded that the Balochistan government take notice of his death. However, a later report did not find any marks of violence or injuries on the deceased’s body.

    The PTM had obtained permission to hold the public meeting with a crowd of 300-350 people, Deputy Inspector General (East) Amir Farooqi told a private media outlet. He added that the demonstrators had assured authorities that they would abide by the law.

    The PTM also held a gathering in Loralai, thronged by a large number of people.

  • ‘How can you question patriotism?’: Islamabad protesters granted bail

    ‘How can you question patriotism?’: Islamabad protesters granted bail

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has granted post-arrest bail to activists who were detained for protesting against the arrest of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Manzoor Pashteen, Dawn reported Monday.

    According to reports, IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Athar Minallah heard the plea and granted bail to 23 activists belonging to the PTM and Awami Workers Party (AWP).

    During the course of proceedings, the IHC CJ expressed displeasure at the Islamabad police chief’s absence from the court. “We did not expect this of your government. You are the representative of the state here, it is the state’s job to protect its people,” he reportedly said to the deputy commissioner, adding that the government should admit if it was wrong.

    “We will get to the bottom of this case. How could you question someone’s patriotism? Do you think constitutional courts will shut their eyes on a matter like this?” CJ Minallah remarked while giving the deputy commissioner a week’s time to consult the Islamabad police chief and come up with a report on the incident.

    Pashteen, who is still in state custody, was arrested up from the Tahkal area of Peshawar last week. According to the FIR [First Information Report] filed against the PTM chief, he is accused of using threatening and derogatory language against the state during a gathering in Dera Ismail Khan on January 18.

    Pashteen was last Monday presented before a court that handed him over to law enforcement authorities on a 14-day judicial remand.

  • Support pours in for arrested activist after picture with son goes viral

    Support pours in for arrested activist after picture with son goes viral

    Support has started pouring in for rights activist and Awami Workers’ Party (AWP) Punjab President Ammar Rashid, who along with dozens of others, was arrested by Islamabad police for staging a protest outside the National Press Club in Islamabad against the arrest of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Manzoor Pashteen.

    Lawmakers, including PTM’s Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir; AWP Vice President Ismat Raza Shahjahan, rights activists and students among 30 protesters were rounded up by the police on Tuesday. After being detained for four hours, the arrestees were finally transferred to the Kohistan Police Station, where a case was registered against them.

    With the detainees being presented before a court on Wednesday, 23 of them were sent to jail on a 14-day judicial remand, journalist Rabia Mehmood tweeted.

    It wasn’t later that support from netizens started pouring in for those “exercising their right to protest”.

    “Esa’s father is in chains for demanding his right to speak, life, fair trial and justice. State declared him a traitor, a rebel,” journalist and rights activist Shabnam Buneri wrote in a Facebook post.

    Here’s what Twitterati have to say about the arrests:

    Earlier in the day, Mohsin Dawar was released by Islamabad police. The lawmaker confirmed the development on Twitter.

    “I was told by the police that they were setting me free,” he wrote on the micro-blogging website. “I told them that I will not go until all the others are set free as well. Then they came back again, telling me that they will set all free, so I decided to leave.”

    Pashteen, who is still in state custody, was arrested up from the Tahkal area of Peshawar in the early hours of Monday. According to the FIR filed against the PTM chief, he is accused of using threatening and derogatory language against the state during a gathering in Dera Ismail Khan on January 18.

    Pashteen was on Monday presented before a court that handed him over to law enforcement authorities on a 14-day judicial remand.

  • Manzoor Pashteen arrested from Peshawar

    Manzoor Pashteen arrested from Peshawar

    Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen has been arrested from Shaheen Town of Peshawar during the wee hours of Monday, Dawn reported.

    According to reports, the Pashtun rights activist was arrested in a case registered against him at the City Police Station in Dera Ismail Khan on January 18 under sections 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 120-B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 124 (sedition), and 123-A (condemning the creation of the country and advocating the abolishment of its sovereignty) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

    Confirming the arrest, officials at the Tahkal Police Station said that Pashteen was currently in the custody of Peshawar police, but will be shifted to Dera Ismail Khan.

    “Police will present Pashteen before a judicial magistrate for his transitory remand,” the official was quoted as saying.

    Meanwhile, senior PTM leader and lawmaker Mohsin Dawar has condemned the arrest. “This is our punishment for demanding our rights in a peaceful and democratic manner. Manzoor’s arrest will only strengthen our resolve. We demand the immediate release of Manzoor Pashteen,” he tweeted.

    PTM is a rights-based alliance that, besides calling for the de-mining of the former tribal areas and greater freedom of movement in the latter, has insisted on an end to the practices of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions, and for their practitioners to be held to account within a truth and reconciliation framework.

    The party has been critical of the army’s policies in the country’s tribal belt, where a massive operation against terrorists was conducted in recent times leading to large-scale displacement and enforced disappearances.

    Internet is divided over the arrest, as it is on the policy and aims of the social movement.