Islamabad: A young leader is changing the landscape of Pakistani politics one rally at a time, with his views attracting thousands to every public gathering organised by the movement led by him.
Manzoor Pashteen, a young and ethnic Pashtun leader, drew a crowd of thousands at a rally organised recently in Bannu in Pakistan, according to a video uploaded by a Youtube user.
“Manzoor Pashteen climbs up to the stage – see people’s response – and their numbers. Who would’ve thought that a totally new, rights based, secular, non-violent movement, led by a lad in his twenties, would attract such crowds in Pakistan of 2018. Stuff of fairy tales,” tweeted a doctor named Mumtaz on Monday, sharing a video of Pashteen taking the stage at the same rally.
At the helm of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), Pashteen’s demands are the “bare minimum that citizens can ask from their country,” according to Zarrar Khuhro’s article on the Dawn.
“The removal of landmines, the status of missing persons, extrajudicial killings, the streamlining and improvement of checkpoint procedures (using military for policing must be avoided), the impotence (or collusion) of the state when it comes to Rao Anwar … all these and more are points on which the majority of Pakistanis support the PTM, regardless of ethnicity or political affiliation,” according to Khuhro.
Khuhro further went on to elaborate that the rallies held by the PTM are a consequence of the collective demands, put forth for the first time at the “peaceful” Islamabad sit-in”, not being taken seriously.
“If this movement fails, it will be a loss for every Pakistani who prays for a justice-based system,” the Dawn article said while referring to the PTM and its leadership, Manzoor Pashteen.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]