Today was the last day of the Pashtun National Jirga, in which Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the leader of the Pakhtunkhwa National Awami Party, said the three-day Pashtun National Jirga in Bannu was one of the most successful Pashtun jirgas. The results will be “heavier and deeper than Ahmad Shah Baba’s Jirga”.
Speaking to media on the third day of the Jirga today, Mr. Achakzai said: “Pashtuns do not want to break Pakistan but they do not live in” un-Pakistan ”
محترم ملی مشر محمود خان اڅکزی
پشتون قامي جرګه (بنو) کښي دريمى ورځي ګډون لپاره تالار ته راورسيدي https://t.co/0HFdpDJnbS— Tanveer Hussain (@tanveerasim138) March 13, 2022
“Pashtuns have problems with the constitution. We do not have national unity. This is our right. We want control over our means to accept the Qur’an, the United Nations, and the Pakistani constitution.”
The demands of the jirga are mostly related to the state and state policies, but neither the central government, the army nor any official has yet shared with the media any reaction to the three-day jirga in Bannu.
Mahmood Khan Achakzai reiterated that there would be no role for the military or “intelligence agencies” in Pakistan’s politics. Pakistan Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Babar Iftikhar told a news conference last week that the army had nothing to do with politics.
Mr Achakzai says Pashtuns no longer allow US, China, Russia, Islamic or non-Islamic forces to fight on Pashtun soil:
“We are not going to stop foreign wars in this country. If anyone is pushing, we will look for ways to use force.”
Mr Achakzai called on the Taliban to prioritize Afghanistan’s independence. Although the Taliban have taken control of Afghanistan by force of arms, Mahmood Khan Achakzai called on the Taliban not to allow “rule by force” to end.
“The Taliban should convene a Loya Jirga and not change the government of the future of Afghanistan.
Achakzai said Pakistan should not interfere in Afghanistan’s affairs, but said that if anyone interfered, Pakistani Pashtuns should be stopped.
He said the people should take the jirga seriously and said he would spend the rest of his life in such jirgas:
“We will form an independent body from this jirga, which will be the monitoring body of this nation, it will not be the Pakhtunkhwa National Awami Party.”
The three-day Jirga in Bannu discussed the political, economic, social, trade, cultural and educational problems of the Pashtuns and the resources of the Pashtuns in Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. A new agreement is reached.
