MANISHA MONDAL
Despite government restrictions and apparent media blackout, the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) managed to organise what is viewed as one of its biggest rallies in Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Saturday.
Pashtun Tahafuz Movement PTM peaceful demonstration in Bannu,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
اہلیان پشتون وطن
پی ٹی ایم بنوں جلسہ ۔#PaahtunRejectStateTerrorism #PashtunLongMarch2Bannu#Bannu#PTM#DaSangaAzadiDa
Disturbing images from #PTM #Bannu gathering. Relatives with pics of missing persons abducted by intel agencies. They are anguishing in their cells having no right to be presented before court. More than 8k Pashtun r missing. @hrw @amnestyusa#PashtunLongMarch2Bannu pic.twitter.com/491okGDtve— Qasim Mehsud (@mehsud_qasim) October 28, 2018
On 26 October, a day before the PTM rally, the government had imposed section 144 of CrPC in Bannu for 30 days, restricting all kinds of rallies in the area. However, thousands of people joined the PTM long march, demanding their social rights and seeking justice for their missing family members.
Journalist Bashir Ahmad Gwakh tweeted, “Govt says no one is allowed to hold rallies in sports grounds”, but PTM members say “it’s their right to carry on with non-violent protests”.
#PTM giants @mjdawar, @sanaejaz2, Wranga, Ali Wazir and others going door to door to campaign for #PashtunLongMarch2Bannu October 28. Meanwhile @manzoorpashteen says on FB they’ll remain nonviolent but repeat demands of rights for #missingpeople & other Pashtuns.
Govt says no one is allowed to hold rallies in sports grounds but #PTM says it’s their right to carry on with non-violent protests. Local officials have watered the ground in bid to stop #PashtunLongMarach2Banuu a couple of times but ppl still flocking to Bannu Sports Complex. pic.twitter.com/Rneh1MOZNM
Some twitter accounts also pointed out how Pakistani media completely ignored the rally.
Politician and technocrat Farhatullah Babar alleged that the PTM march was blacked out by all the television channels except one, which too showed a very short clip of the rally.
Another politician Afrasiab Khattak alleged that the Pakistani media did not cover the long march. “Mainstream Pak media is bad but worse is the normalisation of stifling censorship. Constitutionally a federal democratic system is practically run like an undeclared martial law,” he tweeted.
That huge PTM public meeting in Bannu yesterday is not covered by the “mainstream” Pak media is bad but worse is the “normalisation “ of stifling censorship. Constitutionally a federal democratic system is practically run like an undeclared martial law.
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