By Radio Mashaal January 17, 2021 Pakistani security forces have detained and forcibly expelled a prominent ethnic Pashtun rights activist, Sanna Ejaz, from the restive province of Balochistan. Ejaz is a leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), a civil rights movement that has come under a growing government crackdown. Video footage uploaded on social media
Ariana: Second Vice President Sarwar Danish has called on Pakistan and the international community to probe the “cowardly” attack on coal miners, seven of whom were Afghan nationals, by extremists groups in Pakistan and prosecute the culprits. The Islamic State (Daesh) claimed responsibility for executing the ethnic Hazaras. Click here to read more (external link).
Ariana: Habibullah Rafi, a well-known Afghan writer and member of the Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan, said he has discovered a 400-year-old book on the history of Pashtuns. He said the 600-page book was found in Germany with the cooperation of Afghans in that country. Click here to read more (external link).
By Radio Mashaal December 19, 2020 An anti-terrorism court in Karachi on December 19 handed over a lawmaker and Pashtun-rights leader to be held in custody for 12 days over a sedition charge that has sparked protests all over northwestern Pakistan. Lawmaker Ali Wazir was arrested in the city of Peshawar on December 16 after the
Ariana: Sarwar Danish, Afghanistan’s second vice president, said at a gathering on Sunday that the basic rights of Afghans, especially minorities, need to be focused on and preserved during peace talks and after a peace agreement has been reached. “In our country when you speak about minority rights, some people say that it is against
NYT: In Panjshir, one of the last holdout regions against the Soviets and the Taliban, some would prefer to go their own way rather than support a government negotiating peace with the insurgency. Deputy head of the upper house of Parliament who represents Panjshir: “…don’t trust the government anymore.” Click here to read more (external
AP: Afghanistan’s dwindling community of Sikhs and Hindus is shrinking to its lowest levels. With growing threats from the local Islamic State affiliate, many are choosing to leave the country of their birth to escape the insecurity and a once-thriving community of as many as 250,000 members now counts fewer than 700. Click here to
PTI: Describing Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan as “endangered minorities”, a resolution introduced in the US Congress has sought to resettle these persecuted religious communities from the war-torn country to America. Introduced in the House of Representatives last week by Congresswoman Jackie Speier and co-sponsored by seven others, the resolution supports refugee protection for Sikhs
Tolo News: A group of around 180 Afghanistan Hindu and Sikhs is likely to reach India on Wednesday, the Times of India reported on Tuesday. Efforts are underway to evacuate relatives of all persons who died in the Kabul bomb blast in March that claimed 25 lives at a Hindu and Sikh place of worship,
By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal May 2, 2020 Pashtun rights activist and political leader Sardar Arif Wazir has died of injuries sustained in a shooting attack in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal district. The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), a rights group that Wazir helped lead, confirmed to RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal that Wazir died in Islamabad on May 2.