“I told Ali, ‘These are strong people – don’t get involved with them,’ but he said, ‘I’m not afraid of them.'”
The remarks were made by Ali Wazir’s mother, a leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement and a member of the Pakistani National Assembly.
Ali Wazir has been detained in Karachi, Pakistan for the past one year and the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement has been pushing for his release since last Sunday before the Sindh Assembly.
Demonstrators say they will continue to protest until the Ali Wazir is released.
Ali Wazir was arrested in December 2020 in Peshawar.
“Ali Wazir is in prison for the sake of his nation and country,” Ali Wazir’s mother said in a telephone to protest.
She says her health is not good, otherwise Karachi would have gone to the protests and would have been at the forefront of the protests.
She added that her husband, brother-in-law and other men of the family had sacrificed for the country and the nation and that she is not saddened by the imprisonment of Ali Wazir because her son is imprisoned for fighting for the nation and the country.
She called on the Pashtuns to unite not only for Ali Wazir but also for the nation and homeland.
Ali Wazir’s mother says that when her son joined the movement, 18 members of her family were killed and asked him not to get involved in violence, but her son told her not to be afraid. Nor will it back down.
She says then I told him “then go for the day and the nation, and will not back down, nor will he be discouraged.”
Police say he was arrested on charges of making provocative remarks against Pakistani authorities during a protest rally in Karachi.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court granted him bail in November 2021 but he was not released due to another case in Karachi.
