Pashtuns fear Raddul Fasaad ‘victimising’ them

ANP-W warns of Sindh-wide protest if ‘700 arrested workers not released’;PkMAP dubs crackdown ‘Operation Raddul Pathan’

Pakistan Army launched Operation Raddul Fasaad (literally Rejection of Turbulence) last week. Since then, people from the Pashtun community have voiced concerns that the crackdown was “victimising” them.

On Thursday, the Begum Nasim Wali Khan-led faction of the Awami National Party (ANP-W) claimed that more than 700 party workers had been arrested since the launch of the operation, while the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) dubbed the crackdown Operation Raddul Pathan (Rejection of Pathans).

Addressing a news conference at the Karachi Press Club, ANP-W Sindh General Secretary Younus Khan Buneri condemned the “arrests and torture” of party workers and warned of a province-wide protest if the workers were not “released”.

Buneri announced that the party would hold a rally at Valika Ground on March 26 and the ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan would address the gathering. He claimed that since the launch of the operation, party workers were being harassed and the law enforcement agencies were raiding their houses in the wee hours.

He stressed that the party would not be intimidated by the “arrests” and would continue raising voices against the government’s “undemocratic” policies and decisions, warning that “if any attempt is made to crush the peace loving Pakhtuns, the government will be responsible for the resultant situation”.

He said the Pakhtuns were also being targeted and harassed in Punjab. “Businessmen, ‘daily wagers’ and other people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have settled in Punjab and other parts of the country. Unemployment and militancy have forced them to migrate to other provinces to earn a living, but they are being victimised.”

He added that “ethnic profiling of Pakhtuns in Punjab and other regions is a conspiracy that has caused resentment among them and could sow seeds of hatred among different ethnic groups”. He urged the provincial governments to immediately “release” the “arrested” workers and give up the “policy of victimisation”.

Buneri claimed that the recently launched operation seemed to be against Pakhtuns, especially in Punjab. “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should stop the anti-Pakhtun action, otherwise our party will hold a protest rally outside the Parliament House and raise the issue on every level.”

In another news conference at the press club, PkMAP Sindh President Nazir Jan Khan warned the government to stop “victimising the Pakhtuns in the name of different operations launched in the past decade”.

Khan said his party condemned all kinds of terrorism but, he added, they would not allow anyone to violate the fundamental human rights. “That is completely intolerable!”

Claiming that the Pakhtun community was being targeted under the guise of Operation Raddul Fasaad, he dubbed the crackdown Operation Raddul Pathan. He said Operation Rah-e-Haq (or the First Battle of Swat), Operation Sirat-e-Mustaqeem (Righteous Path), Operation Sherdil (or the Battle of Bajaur), Operation Rah-e-Rast (or the Second Battle of Swat) and many others that followed were aimed at targeting Pashtuns “and all of them proved to be unsuccessful”.

“Life of our community has been made miserable, especially in Sindh and Punjab, which raises many questions. Are we not human beings? Are we not citizens of the country? We have always been given stepmotherly treatment. Is this democracy?”

Khan pointed out that the country was passing through a crucial phase, demanding that all the political parties of the country sit together to resolve the pressing issue of “racial profiling” of Pashtuns. He also demanded putting an end to “discriminatory” attitude towards Pakhtuns and immediately “releasing” all the “innocent workers arrested”.