PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen arrested in Kohat

PESHAWAR: Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen has reportedly been arrested in Kohat.

South Waziristan MNA Mohsin Dawar confirmed that Pashteen has been arrested by police in Kohat while he was on to way to attend a sit-in in  Jani Khel, Bannu. PTM activists Bilal Pakhtun, Idrees Pashteen and Zohaib were also reportedly taken into custody while police have not commented on the arrests.

“Utterly shameful how ManzoorPashteen has been arrested to try and stop him from joining sit in underway in Jani Khel (Bannu),” Dawar said. “Dissent is not a crime. Demanding rights is not a crime,” he added, demanding his immediate release and PTM’s activists.

Pashteen was on his way to Jani Khel where Malik Naseeb Khan, former head of the security committee and a tribal elder, was killed in a militant attack. Pashteen had expressed over the killing and said the PTM would support them.

Utterly shameful how @ManzoorPashteen has been arrested to try and stop him from joining sit in underway in Jani Khel (Bannu). Dissent is not a crime. Demanding rights is not a crime. Demand his immediate release and of all of PTM’s activists.#Sharamnak#ReleaseManzoorPashteen

— Mohsin Dawar (@mjdawar) June 4, 2021

Social activist Ammar Ali Jan also expressed concern over Pashteen’s arrest and other PTM activists. He said the government should immediately release him and respect citizens’ right to dissent.

Hearing reports that PTM head @ManzoorPashteen has been arrested in Kohat. This regime’s assault on civil and political freedoms is worsening by the day and will silence all of us if we do not speak out against these rising excesses. #ReleaseManzoorPashteen at once.

— Ammar Rashid (@AmmarRashidT) June 3, 2021

Left-wing Awami Workers Party (AWP) Punjab President Ammar Rashid condemned the arrest, adding that the “regime’s assault on civil and political freedoms is worsening by the day and will silence all of us if we do not speak out against these rising excesses.”

Hearing reports that PTM head @ManzoorPashteen has been arrested in Kohat. This regime’s assault on civil and political freedoms is worsening by the day and will silence all of us if we do not speak out against these rising excesses. #ReleaseManzoorPashteen at once.

— Ammar Rashid (@AmmarRashidT) June 3, 2021