ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday said the government will not permit the outlawed Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) or anyone to set up a parallel judicial system in the country.

“The banned PTM is talking about holding Jirga as well as “Pashtun Qaumi Adalat”. This is the clear-cut decision of the government that the setting up of a parallel judicial system will not be allowed at any cost, he said, while addressing a press conference.

Naqvi said that those who pick up arms against the state and talk of separation were our enemies. No one will be permitted to gather people and incite them against the state, he said.

He said that the main reason for banning PTM is because they were continuously using derogatory language for state institutions and police, and creating division in the nation through ethnic discrimination.

The interior minister said that the government has no reservations about holding of Jirga. Tribal elders hold Jirga but gathering thousands of people is not a Jirga it is something else, he said.

The minister said that if they are talking about the right then government is ready to discuss it with them. “Talking about rights and raising weapons will not go hand and hand”, he said.

The minister said that the governments of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan put the names of 34 leaders of banned PTM on the fourth schedule after imposing a ban on PTM. Under the law, offices of outlawed PTM will be sealed, passports of their leaders will be cancelled and bank accounts would be closed, he said.

He also said that those who assist the banned PTM leaders will face the same action taken against the PTM as well as their leaders.

The documentaries of banned PTM have been prepared in foreign countries, he said.

The minister said that there is a message for the mastermind of the banned PTM that what they are doing in Pakistan they will face its consequences.

To a question, he said that the leaders of all political parties held meetings with banned PTM leaders in the past.

There is no issue of meeting with them but if anyone is found involved in supporting them in their activities would be dealt with iron hand, he said.

He said that after the 18th amendment law and order is a provincial subject. Federal government assist provinces as per their request, he said.

When he was asked that where was Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, he said ask this question from him.

He said that ask from Ali Amin Gandapur whether he had met with Inspector General of Police (IGP) or not.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024