Genuine PTM demands should be met: Asfandyar

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): A senior nationalist leader has lent his weight to the demands of a new Pakhtun movement, calling them genuine.

Awami National Party chief Asfandyar Wali Khan said Pakhtun Tahafuz Movement had valid demands. He urged the government to resolve the issues in line with Pakistan’s constitution.

The movement wants an immediate end to the harassment of Pakhtuns, release of missing people, abolition of military checkpoints in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and rehabilitation of displaced tribal families.

In a statement from the Bacha Khan Markaz on Tuesday, Asfandyar said:  “These demands are not new as ANP has been raising the issues at all platforms for decades.”

The ANP president added he himself had attended the PTM sit-in in Islamabad. He said he had asked the prime minister to take consider meeting the demands.

“We support upholding democratic values, supremacy of law and the constitution and believe in non-violence,” Asfandyar said, adding he had supported the PTM.

He also expressed his concern over the fresh wave of targeted killings and incidents of kidnapping for ransom. It was a bad omen for peace, he concluded.

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