Amnesty calls on govt to revoke PTM ban

The Amnesty International called on Pakistani authorities on Tuesday to revoke the ban on the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), as the government placed the names of the banned outfit's office-bearers in the list of proscribed persons.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said that the PTM – which was banned under Section 11B of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997 on Sunday – was engaged in anti-state activities over the past six months, adding that Afghan nationals were involved in some of the attacks attributed to it.

The Amnesty International said in a statement that the ban on the PTM, "days ahead of their gathering scheduled on 11 October," was "an affront on the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly" in Pakistan.

It termed the ban "part of a systematic and relentless clampdown by the Pakistani authorities on peaceful protests and assemblies by dissenting groups". It added that the government had failed to provide any concrete evidence about the PTM.

Meanwhile, according to a notification issued by the K-P government, the names of several office-bearers and activists of the banned PTM had been placed in the Schedule 4 under Section 11EE of the ATA.