Thousands of people attended the jirga in the daytime but the number dropped in the evening.
Amid confusion about the jirga due to the previous police actions and the federal government’s ban on the rights movement, the event began on Friday in Jamrud tehsil here following an “agreement” between the provincial government and PTM late on Thursday.
A government statement revealed that the jirga would be hosted by it under the supervision of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, but neither foreign flags would be allowed to be hoisted at the jirga’s venue nor would PTM members shout any slogans against the state and its institutions, especially the Army and the Constitution.
Participants complain about poor arrangements, absence of Pashteen
The agreement came after a lengthymeeting between the CM-headed government team and Manzoor Pashteen-led PTM leadership in Jamrud on Thursday night at the residence of local PTI leader Ameer Mohammad.
The statement added that Ali Amin Gandapur assured the PTM delegation that he would lay all demands of the jirga before the federal government as it was his top priority to restore peace in the province.
As the jirga began at its designated venue on Friday, participants complained about poor arrangements by the PTM volunteers.
While Manzoor Pashteen was not seen all through the day, delegates from across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and parts of Balochistan struggled to find a suitable place for themselves at the event and remained unaware of the first day’s agenda due to the “clueless” PTM activists.
The PTM had announced that separate enclosures would be established for delegates coming in from far-off areas. However, the crackdown on event organisers made it difficult for organisers to arrange tents and other goods for the event.
“Majority of participants on the first day of jirga were just onlookers, mostly youth who showed up just to see what was happening there without being aware of the actual purpose of the event,” resident Khiyal Mat Shah told Dawn.
He said thousands of people came to the jirga but necessary arrangements and facilities for them were missing.
“PTM volunteers, too, were confused about how to handle the situation as they’re given permission to properly hold the meeting late on Thursday night,” he said.
Mr Shah said the jirga’s site was not only covered in dust and uneven but it was also “a bit far off” from the main Peshawar-Torkham Highway, with a large number of aspiring participants finding it difficult to locate the venue on their own.
Sajid Ali, another young participant, said that there was no proper sound system, while delegates and political parties’ representatives held their own “corner meetings” to keep themselves busy in the absence of proper seating arrangements and separate enclosures.
He added that though the provincial government had pledged to arrange 5,000 tents for the event along with the sound systemand uninterruptedpower supply, those pledges were unfulfilled until Friday evening.
“I believethat the PTM madewrong estimates about the number of participants on the opening day of the jirga, so there was chaos and confusion, witha sizablenumber of attendees returning to their homes before sunset,” he told Dawn.
The participant said that the first day of the jirga was lost to disorder due to poor arrangements and the absence of the top PTM leadership.
The attendees included relatives of missing persons. Members of displaced families also showed up and complained they had long been awaiting compensationfor damaged properties.
However, the day went well for those who established temporaryfood and drink stalls wearing the typical PTM caps.
Several political leaders, including ANP’s Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Shah Hussain Yousafzai, PTI’s Asad Qaisar and Umar Ayub, National Democratic Movement’s Afrasiab Khattak, and Bushra Gohar also attended the jirga.
The federal government has agreed, in principle, to lift a recently-imposed ban on the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), with some caveats, multiple sources privy to the development told Dawn.
The agreement came during a multiparty grand jirga, hosted by the provincial government on Thursday.
Sources said that since a certain procedure has to be followed for lifting the ban, it was decided that the notification of the ban would be, for the time being, ‘held in abeyance’.
The sources said it was also agreed that the ‘proscribed’ PTM would be allowed to hold its scheduled Pashtoon Qaumi Jirga today (Friday), which would be hosted by the KP government and attended by Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.
They further informed that Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had empowered a provincial government’s jirga for holding talks with the banned PTM for resolving several controversial issues. This jirga will be led by Speaker KP Assembly Babar Saleem Swati with parliamentary leaders in the legislature and MPAs from the treasury and opposition benches as its members.
“KP government will be hosting the PTM’s jirga and will make all the necessary arrangements but with certain conditions there will be no inflammatory slogans during the PTM’s Jirga nor will anyone bring the Afghan national flag,” the sources said, adding that these conditions would be conveyed to the PTM leadership by the Jirga.
The PTM was yet to offer any comment on the development.
On Sunday, the federal government imposed the ban on PTM, citing threats to national peace and security. The ban was imposed under Section 11B of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997. The notification read that PTM posed a “significant danger” to public order and safety in the country.
As soon as the notification was issued, a crackdown was launched against the PTM workers in Peshawar and other parts of the province. The venue of its planned Jirga in Jamrud was raided and dozens of PTM activists were arrested. According to the PTM, three persons died and 10 others were injured in the police action.
Lawmakers during a sitting of the KP Assembly on Wednesday condemned the police action. The treasury and the opposition benches agreed to constitute a committee to control the situation.
On Thursday, the KP government held the grand Jirga with CM Gandapur in the chair. The grand Jirga was attended by Interior Minister Naqvi, KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, representatives of political parties including Amir Maqam of PML-N, Aimal Wali Khan (ANP), Prof Ibrahim of Jamaat-i-Islami, National Democratic Movement’s Mohsin Dawar and others.
Sources privy to the developments said all the political leadership from KP is on the same page on the restoration of peace in the province.
“They all condemned banning the PTM and police action against it,” the sources claimed, adding that CM Gandapur, flanked by the interior minister and the governor, said that holding public gatherings was everyone’s constitutional right.
“The chief minister told the grand Jirga that KP government had asked the federal government to let the provincial government deal with and control the situation, but the latter replied that there was no possibility of engagement with the banned PTM and issued direct orders for the police action,” the sources said.
Speaking at the Jirga, the participants said that PTM activists belong to several political parties including PTI, ANP and PPP and that their demands were genuine, adding that the grand Jirga should have been held earlier.
However, the participants said, “Better late than never.”
The sources said that interior ministry did not oppose the grand Jirga’s proposals and appreciated the political leadership in KP for being on the same page.
A statement issued from the CM Secretariat read that after extensive discussions, members from the provincial assembly and leaders of the political parties, who attended the grand Jirga, reposed their full confidence in the chief minister and entrusted him with the responsibility to hold the jirga for peaceful resolution of the matter.
The sources said that Jirga members later visited Khyber district to meet the banned PTM’s representatives for talks. The meeting between the government Jirga and PTM leadership, however, could not take place since the PTM’s representatives were yet to arrive till late in the night.
