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KABUL: Chief spokesman of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Saturday that he hopes the protest by group of tribesmen in Islamabad will turn into a “civil move” against extremism which has become a stumbling block against development because the region has fallen victim to terrorism.
“The world, media, and civil society need to back this historical move,” Shah Hussein Murtazawi told Arab News.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, on Friday voiced his support in favor of a protest in Pakistan by ethnic Pashtuns.
The protest began over 10 days ago following the murder of a young Pashtun man, Naqeebullah Mehsud, in a gunfight with Karachi police last month who accused him of being a Taliban militant.
His killing prompted protests comprising thousands of people from various parts of Pakistan, with many joining from the tribal areas adjacent to Afghanistan.
The social-media-savvy group of young Pashtuns organized a sit-in in Islamabad, creating the hashtag #PashtunLongMarch.
“I fully support the historical #PashtunLongMarch in Pakistan. The main purpose of which is to mobilize citizens against fundamentalism and terrorism in the region,” Ghani said in a tweet.
“I hope #PashtunLongMarch would also succeed in uprooting and eradicating terrorism from their region. The historical importance of this march traces back to the great proponent of non-violence, Bacha Khan, whose philosophy was based on the non-violent ideology,” he added.
Late Khan was a national hero of Pashtuns and pushed for the reunion of millions of people of the ethnic group, separated by British colonialists from ancient Afghanistan under a deal with a former Afghan ruler.
Ghani urged the media to help the protesters present their demands, calling the march as “a wake-up call against fundamentalism.”
A number of protests have also been held in various parts of Afghanistan by Pashtuns in recent days in support of the march in Pakistan.