ANP-W tells Sindh to stop following in Punjab’s footsteps

Demands end to victimisation of Pashtuns in Punjab, Sindh and AJK; release of Lakhra miners and other Pashtuns arrested under garb of crackdown on Afghans

The faction of the Awami National Party headed by Begum Nasim Wali Khan, the ANP-Wali (ANP-W), demanded on Wednesday that the Sindh government should announce a clear-cut policy on Pashtuns living in the province and ensure that they were not arrested or harassed under the garb of a crackdown on Afghans, unlike what the party claimed was happening in Punjab.

Endorsing the resolution presented in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, ANP-W General Secretary Qasim Jan condemned the “racist” policies of the Punjab government and maintained that it was arresting Pashtuns in the province under the pretext of an operation against illegal immigrants.

Addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, Jan demanded that the Sindh government should make it clear as to whether it considered Pashtuns as Pakistanis or not on the basis of their language even after 70 years.

He also demanded that the Sindh IGP should take notice of the arrest of Pashtuns living in the province. Jan maintained that dozens of Pashtuns miners working at the Lakhra coalfields had been arrested.

“During the past four decades, not a single Afghan national has worked in the Lakhra coalfields. Ninety percent of miners there are from Swat and 10 percent from Dir and Punjab,” he added.

Jan said that government functionaries were aware about it but were targeting the community with a biased approach for their number game.

 He added that both the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan People’s Party both claimed to be federal parties, but their respective governments in Punjab and Sindh were discriminating against people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata, showing their racist and biased approach.

 “Just like the Urdu-speaking community members are Hindustanis, Pashtuns too are Afghans, but even after 70 years have passed, we have not been recognised as Pakistanis.

Jan demanded that the Centre should restrain the governments of Punjab, Sindh and Azad Kashmir from victimising and unlawfully detaining Pashtuns.

“The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including traders and daily wagers, have been forced to settle in Punjab and other areas of the country because of unemployment and militancy and now they are facing racial profiling,” he added.

He said the racial profiling in Punjab and other areas was a conspiracy that had caused resentment among Pashtuns and could sow seeds of hatred.

He urged the provincial governments to immediately release the arrested Pashtuns and end their policy of racial profiling.

“If the Punjab government doesn’t stop victimising Pashtuns, the people in Peshawar, Mardan and Charsadda would have the right to expel Punjabis from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he remarked.

“We will expose the real face of the Punjab government.”

He said the Punjab government was acting in violation of the Constitution by arresting people over ethnic grounds. “Pashtuns are being used as a shield to protect Punjab. The rulers shouldn’t repeat the history of East Pakistan,” he added.

The ANP-Wali leader warned that if the crackdowns on Pashtuns were not stopped, the party would stage a protest outside the Parliament House.

Jan was accompanied by other ANP-W leaders including Mehrab Gul Mohmand and Qadir Khan.

The Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party too convened a meeting of its provincial executive committee to discuss the racial profiling of Pashtuns.

It said the Sindh government should stop its law-enforcement agencies from harassing Pashtuns living in the province.