Ruling Elite’s Decision to Keep Pashtuns Confined to Labour Is Extremely Dangerous, Says Nawab Ayaz Khan Jogezai

QUETTA: Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Central Secretary Nawab Muhammad Ayaz Khan Jogezai has termed the ruling elite’s approach of keeping Pashtuns confined to labour an extremely dangerous policy, saying that injustice and discrimination of this kind would prevent the country from moving forward.

Addressing the zonal conference of the Pashtunkhwa Students Organisation (PSO), Southern Pashtunkhwa, he urged students and young people to continue their education while remaining actively engaged with the political and national issues confronting Pashtunkhwa. He called on them to use their abilities to find solutions to these challenges, promote national solidarity through politics and work towards freeing their homeland from subjugation.

Jogezai said Pashtun students had historically continued their education while also emerging as committed political workers and providing capable leadership to national movements. Saving the homeland, he stressed, was not the responsibility of PkMAP alone, nor could a single political party achieve this task. People across Pashtunkhwa and all political parties must play an active role in politics and fulfil their democratic responsibilities.

Referring to the region’s economic and social conditions, he said that, even before the country’s current economic, political, judicial and constitutional crises, young people in Pashtunkhwa had been suffering from illiteracy, backwardness, helplessness, poverty and unemployment. Many had been forced to travel to distant areas in search of work, often accepting the lowest wages.

He cited a recent coal mine collapse, in which around 38 young men from northern Pashtunkhwa lost their lives. He said these brave and skilled young people had travelled hundreds or even thousands of miles from their beautiful valleys to work deep underground in coal mines. Their bodies were ultimately returned to their mothers, he said, reflecting how employment opportunities had been taken away from local youth.

“The rulers of this country have decided that Pashtuns will remain labourers. This is an extremely dangerous practice, and the country cannot progress through such injustice,” he said, urging Pashtun students and young people to unite and stand together.

Jogezai also alleged that terrorism had been imposed on the region while Pashtuns themselves were being labelled terrorists. Referring to the situation in Harnai, Shahrag, Ziarat, Sherani, Loralai, Musakhel, Quetta, Qila Abdullah and other districts, he alleged that outsiders were being brought into the region and assigned various responsibilities, while local residents, particularly people from villages and mountainous areas, were being forced to move towards cities.

He further alleged that illegal allotments of land were taking place and that circumstances were being created through a conspiracy to force local people into a position where they would accept any foreign power coming to their homeland in exchange for employment and a livelihood.

He said it was everyone’s responsibility to protect the people of Pashtunkhwa from such alleged conspiracies. He also called for an end to hostility and disputes among tribes, stressing the need to promote unity and mutual understanding.

Emphasising the responsible use of social media, Jogezai said people should not respond to abusive language with similar language. He observed that some individuals routinely used social media to insult national heroes and political activists, adding that such behaviour should be addressed through patience and responsible conduct.

He described Pashtuns as a serious and responsible nation and said party workers had a duty to educate and train young people, improve their intellectual development, promote good manners and ethical values, and familiarise them with the traditional Pashtun code of conduct.

He said PkMAP was a party committed to serving its homeland and that its workers should help politically and morally train young people and political activists across party lines in accordance with Pashtun traditions and values.

Speaking about the region’s natural resources, Jogezai called on the government and major companies to conduct surveys and negotiate directly with local landowners. Under the proposed arrangement, he said, the federal and provincial governments should receive their legally entitled shares, while the remaining matters should be settled through agreements between landowners and companies.

He questioned the need to invoke the names of militant organisations, including the BLA and TTP, in matters concerning local communities and their rights. He said such references should not be used as a pretext to impose violence on people or force them to leave their homes.

Jogezai maintained that Pashtun youth possessed immense capabilities compared with young people elsewhere in the world, but lacked the opportunities needed to utilise their potential and become productive members of society.

He also expressed concern that young people were allegedly being drawn towards drugs and other intoxicating substances through deliberate efforts. He said the Pashtunkhwa Students Organisation must fulfil its responsibilities in protecting young people from this menace.

Concluding his address, Jogezai praised the students for organising a successful conference and extended his best wishes to the newly elected cabinet. However, he said congratulations would be truly deserved when the newly elected representatives and all students fulfilled their responsibilities and achieved their objectives.