Qureshi rejects Ashraf Ghani’s remarks as gross interference

islamabad — Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday rejected a tweet shared by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani regarding alleged violence against protesters in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan provinces, and termed the “irresponsible” statement a “gross interference”.

Taking to Twitter, Qureshi said: “We reject the tweet by President Ashraf Ghani. Such irresponsible statements are only gross interference. Afghan leadership needs to focus on long-standing serious grievances of the Afghan people.”

The Afghan president appeared to be referring to protests staged by the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) recently after the death of PTM leader Arman Loni in a police action.

Islamabad’s crackdown against the group, whose support comes mainly from the northwestern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has drawn criticism and protests from across the border in Afghanistan, where Pashtuns are estimated to be the largest single ethnic group.

“The Afghan government has serious concerns about the violence perpetrated against peaceful protesters and civil activists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan,” Ghani, himself a Pashtun, wrote in a tweet.

The PTM members were detained during an Islamabad protest against

police violence on Tuesday, the latest in a series of moves against the group which was founded a year ago to protest the death of a Pashtun man killed by police in Karachi.

Mohsin Dawar, a member of parliament and founding member of PTM, said police had singled Loni out and beat him to death.

A police spokesman said Loni died of a heart attack after clashes between protesters and police.

PTM leader and member of parliament Ali Wazir said that 18 activists were still in custody after

one of those detained was released this week.

Rights group Amnesty International issued a statement saying authorities “must immediately and unconditionally release protesters belonging to the PTM”. “It is shocking that the Pakistani authorities have resorted to such heavy-handed methods,” Amnesty South Asia researcher Rabia Mehmood said.

PTM blames the military and other state agencies for what it says are forced disappearances resulting in thousands of missing persons’

cases, mainly from the Pashtun region bordering Afghanistan.

The group is viewed with deep suspicion by the military which says it undermines Pakistan. The army has said it does not detain individuals without evidence.

The arrest last month of senior PTM leader Alamzeb Mehsud in Karachi drew an outcry on social media. He was charged under antiterrorism and public order laws, but his supporters say he was arrested for protesting against abuses by the military. —