Pashtun Leader Manzoor Pashteen, A Voice Against Pakistan Army’s Human Rights Abuses Arrested For ‘Sedition’

Pakistan has arrested Manzoor Pashteen, a leader of Pashtun Tahaffuz (Protection) Movement (PTM), for alleged criminal conspiracy, sedition and has been accused of hate speech.

Pashteen has been leading thousands of protests across the nation against the Pakistan army, accusing it for human rights abuses, reports BBC.

Manzoor Pashteen along with nine other associates was arrested in Peshawar and will be presented in front of a magistrate in Dera Ismail Khan, where charges against him have been filed.

Pashteen, a veterinary student came to prominence two years ago and is now the face of the PTM in a country where the military has been in charge of governance directly or indirectly since its independence.

Pashteen told the BBC, “It has taken us almost 15 years of suffering and humiliation to gather courage to speak up, and to spread awareness about how the military trampled our constitutional rights through both direct action and a policy of support for the militants.”

Pashtuns make up the majority of the population along the border with Afghanistan and the most surprising aspect of this movement is that it has remained peaceful which has baffled the military which is used to violence.