Pakistani tribesmen call off sit-in, reject Ghani’s word in support of their protest

Aamir Shah
Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani speaks during a news conference in Kabul, Afghanistan December 7, 2015. (REUTERS)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan's tribesmen who have been protesting since Feb 1 to seek justice for Naqeebullah Mehsud have formally announced to call off their sit-in after the government assured them in writing to fulfil their demands within a month.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has accepted two out of five demands put forth by the tribesmen including arrest of accused SSP Rao Anwar as early as possible and bring him to justice, and clearance of landmines from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
The PM has, however, apparently not acknowledged three demands of the tribesmen that included: an end of what they have described as an extrajudicial killings of tribal people in Karachi and other parts of the country; recovery of all missing tribal people and present them in courts and end to imposition of curfew in the tribal areas after any untoward incident.
“Genuine grievances raised by jirga members from different quarters would also be addressed as soon as possible,” the prime minister has assured the tribesmen in written promise.
Rao Anwar, main accused in killing of 27-year-old aspiring model Naqeebullah in a staged encounter in Karachi last month, is still at large despite a suo moto notice by the Supreme Court. 
After accepting written assurance of the PM, the tribesmen have announced to call off their 10-day sit-in, but threatened to stage a bigger protest in the federal capital if their demands are not met in a due time as promised by the prime minister.
“We are ending our sit-in; but we have given one month deadline to the authorities if during this period our demands were not met, we will come again,” a protest organizer Noor Rehman told Arab News.
Addressing protesters outside National Press Club this evening, Prime Minister's adviser on political affairs Amir Muqam said that India and other countries have been doing propaganda against Pakistan due to the sit-in; therefore it should be called off immediately.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Friday, through social media, supported Pashtun Long March and termed it as a wakeup call against terrorism.
In a series of tweets, Afghan president said that he had urged Afghans and people of this region after recent spate of Kabul bombings to align together against the scourge of terrorism and “I consider the Pashtun Long March a response to those remarks and a wake-up call against fundamentalism.”
Pakistani tribesmen, who were holding the long march to seek justice for Naqeebullah Mehsud, found Ghani’s statement uncalled for.
“We are patriotic Pakistanis and cannot allow anyone to interfere in our internal issues,” Mehmood Khan Mehsud, a tribal elder who is supporting the protest, told Arab News.
“Afghan president should try to put his own house in order by cracking down against militants instead of poking his nose in Pakistan’s internal affairs,” he suggested.
He said their protest was apolitical and they were just struggling to get justice for Naqeebullah Mehsud who was killed in a staged encounter in Karachi last month.
“Ashraf Ghani has tried to incite the tribal people against our government and we condemn it with one voice,” said another tribal leader Samiullah Burki.
“We have rendered invaluable sacrifices in the war against terrorism and continue to do so to make Pakistan a peaceful and prosperous country,” he said.