Pakhtuns' ethnic profiling: ANP-W warns PM of 'serious' implications

Awami National Party-Wali (ANP-W) on Wednesday warned the Prime Minister of 'serious' implications of Pakhtuns' ethnic profiling on terrorism in Punjab and Sindh, asking the government to end racial hatred in the country. On the pretext of crackdown on Afghan migrants, hundreds of Pakhtuns are not only subjected to torture but their women are also humiliated in Punjab and Sindh, General Secretary ANP-W Sindh, Qasim Jan told a joint press conference at Karachi Press Club.
Flanked by the party's Central Vice President, Mehrab Gul Mehmond, Acting Provincial President, Idress Zeeshan, Advocate Qadir Khan and other local representatives, Qasim Jan condemned the torture and arrests of Pakhtuns in continuing law enforcers' clampdown on Afghan migrants in Punjab and Sindh. Showing concerns, he said that the private TV channels turned a blind eye to the grave issue of racial profiling of Pakhtuns and no news report was telecast since the ethnic community had been subjected to the humiliation in the recent days. "Shahbaz Sharif knows that Pakhtuns in Punjab are subjected to racial profiling which continues under his nose but does nothing to stop it," he slammed.
Mainly Pakhtun labourers, who are an easy target for the law enforcers, are arrested without any reasons and charged with terrorism if fail to pay bribe and extortion to the police in both the province, he alleged, saying that "innocent Pakhtuns are arrested on the charges of terrorism and then killed if don't pay bribe. It has been going on for quite long now".
About some while ago, he said that Pakhtun mine labourers working in Lakhra Coal Field in Sindh were forcefully dragged from their homes during the 'dark' night hours and put behind the bars on the pretext of Afghan migrants despite they belonged to Swat Valley, Khyber Pakhtunkwa.
Despite the mine labourers also presented their credentials but police jailed them under Foreign Act, he said, adding that the Pakistan Pakhtuns were now facing a 'great level' of discriminations in the country's two bigger provinces. He said that Nawaz Sharif's policies are yielding hatred which could engulf the country with 'dire' consequences.
A couple of days back, Qasim Jan said that police entered forcefully in the houses of Pakhtuns in Shah Latif Town, Hyderabad and arrested scores of them on the charges of Afghan immigrants, although they had documents of Pakistani citizenships. "Such racial profiling incidents continue nearly in all districts of Sindh including Thatta, Mirpurkhas, Badin, Thatta etc," he claimed.
He said that the government's policy, which resulted in a racial discrimination of Pakhtuns, would bring about anarchy in the country and would have far-long implications on the society. "The government will be responsible for any anarchy breaks out as a backfire of racial hatred," he warned, saying that "If after 70 years, the rulers on the basis of race suspect Pakhtuns and see them foreigners then they should now clearly declare that Pakhtuns are not Pakistanis".
Days ago, Pakhtun traders in different places in Punjab and Sindh were dragged out of their houses and vehicles by police and inflicted severe torture on them and damaged their property especially cars, which social media widely displayed on a regular basis but the TV channels completely blacked out the inhuman incidents. "Even no channel ran a single ticker of these catastrophic incidents, let alone news bulletins," Qasim Jan showed sorry.
Secretary ANP-W also asked the Punjab government to spell out its policy openly that it had banned Pakhtuns to reside or trade in the province. "If Pakhtuns are banned then they should be deported from Punjab but in a respectful way," he said, adding that the Punjab government should stop humiliating Pakhtuns. He also condemned the NADRA's move of blocking Pakhtuns national identity cards for no good reasons, asking the government to end its racial policy towards the country's largest ethnic minority.
Similarly, he slammed the Sindh government for creating hurdles in educational institutes in Hyderabad and Karachi for Pakhtun students. "We express deep concerns over the difficulties which were fashioned to bar Pakhtun students from taking admissions in academic institutes in Hyderabad and Karachi," he said, adding that his party support the resolution adopted by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly against the illegal arrests and torture on Pakhtuns in Punjab and Sindh.
To a question, Advocate Qadir Khan said that Afghans are living in Pakistan under an international agreement not as arbitrary. He said that Pakistan may end this accord with the UN but should give respect to the migrants and send them back to their country in a respectable manner. "Afghan migrants should not be humiliated," he said.