PkMAP threatens to expand protests over passport issue

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) has warned that it would launch demonstrations in all.

Pakhtun-dominated areas of Balochistan from Tuesday (tomorrow) if the demands of protesters staging a sit-in in the border town of Chaman for the last two months were not accepted.

Speaking at a press conference along with former provincial minister Dr Hamid Achakzai and other party leaders, PkMAP Secretary General Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal lamented that people were being punished in the name of democracy.

Thousands of tribe members and traders have set up a protest camp in Chaman after the provincial administration refused to allow anyone to cross the Pakistan-Afghan border without a passport and valid visa from both sides.

Mr Ziaratwal highlighted that people have been freely moving across the Durand Line (the Pakistan-Afghanistan border) for the past 130 years, with many residing on the one side and doing business on the other.

“Enforcing a passport requirement in the border region is not feasible, as it is a matter of livelihood for the people who lack the means for business,” he said.

He stressed the need for a mechanism that allows people from both sides to benefit easily.

He said the Chaman issue would be among the key items on the election agenda for PkMAP.

The party is also working on an action plan to participate in an alliance to contest elections on national and provincial assembly seats in Balochistan. (DAWN)