The Members National Assembly, representing Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar were barred on Sunday from taking a flight to Kabul to participate in the oath-taking ceremony of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
Talking to Business Recorder, Ali Wazir said that he and Dawar were scheduled to take a flight from Islamabad International Airport to attend the oath taking ceremony of President Ghani. "But we were shocked to know that my and Dawar's names were on the Exit Control List (ECL); the immigration officials told us that we cannot take the flight due to the reason," he said, condemning the move.
Afghan President has invited Wazir and Dawar to attend his oath-taking ceremony today, along with other activists of the PTM including Afrasiab Khattak and Bushra Gohar. "All others including Afrasiab and Bushra left for Kabul, but we were stopped from taking the flight, which is deplorable," he said.
Wazir also stated that he was also informed that Prime Minister Imran Khan has reportedly permitted a one-time exemption. "But we have not been conveyed officially and also it will be useless as we will not be able to reach on time to Kabul to attend the ceremony which is scheduled in the morning of Monday," he added.
Dawar took to the twitter soon after he and his aide was denied to take the flight to Kabul. "Sending best wishes to Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on his re-election & thanks to all the Afghans who invited us and those who were waiting to welcome. Also thanks to the Afghan Ambassador in Pakistan Atif Mashal for his efforts to resolve this issue," he twitted. "We are going back as we were not allowed to fly to Kabul. FIA told us quite explicitly that the military has barred us from leaving the country. This is what elected Pashtun MNAs have to go through in Pakistan. This is the fate of an elected Pashtun representative in Pakistan," he stated in another tweet.
The Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Firdaus Ashiq Awan also took to the twitter to clarify the situation, saying that the names of Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar are on the ECL and they had not sought any permission to leave for Afghanistan. "The claims made by Mohsin Dawar are baseless and an attempt to defame the State institutions. The Ministry of Interior looks into the matter of ECL, if they file any application for going abroad it will be look into as per the law," she added.
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