PkMAP warns of protests over travel restrictions

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): A major Pakhtun nationalist party has warned of staging protests over travel conditions for travel across the Friendship Gate.

The Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) said it would launch demonstrations in all Pakhtun-dominated areas of the province from Tuesday (today).

PkMAP asked government to accept the demands of participants of a sit-in that has been ongoing in the town of Chaman over the last two months.

PkMAP Secretary General Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal, flanked by ex- provincial minister Dr Hamid Achakzai and other party leaders, accused the government of punishing the people.

The provincial government’s refusal to withdraw the visa and passport condition sparked a sit-in Chaman, with participants refusing to call off their protest.

Ziaratwal told reporters people had been freely travelling across the Durand Line over the past 130 years. Many have been living one side and doing businesses on the other.

Dawn quoted him as saying: “Enforcing the passport requirement is not feasible, as it is a matter of livelihood for the people who lack the means of business.”

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