ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Monday voiced concern over the alleged singling out Pashtuns especially in Punjab in the aftermath of terror incidents and asked Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to intervene to save them from being victims of a witch-hunt.

In a letter written to the interior minister, PTI Deputy Secretary General and MNA Murad Saeed voiced concern on behalf of his party over the “discriminatory” treatment being meted out to Pashtuns especially in Punjab in the name of security measures.

He said the interior ministry and the minister himself should take the lead to unite the nation in the war on terror instead of “victimising” the Pashtuns, who were the worst victims of the war on terror for over a decade.

The letter said the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has started targeting Pashtuns instead of implementing the National Action Plan (NAP) in letter and spirit and purging the Punjab cabinet of the elements who sponsored extremist groups in the past.

The letter has questioned the interior ministry for not implementing Justice Qazi Faez Esa commission report on Quetta blast and removing loopholes in the interior ministry as mentioned in the report.

Though the minister has distanced himself from the issue of mistreatment of Pashtuns, he should play his role in this connection, the letter said.

“The PTI stands by the Pashtuns against this maltreatment,” Saeed said in the letter adding that the party would not tolerate the PML-N government’s “discriminatory” posturing towards the Pushtuns. He criticised the PML-N Punjab government for targeting Pushtuns on ethnic grounds.

Saeed said that PML-N’s actions in Punjab would fan hateful trends such as hostility, hatred and intolerance in the country and would contribute to further instability.

“The heedlessness as and detachment of the interior ministry will strength anti-Pakistan agenda causing chaos and division across the country,” he said.

Slamming the federal government, he said that the government seemed least interested in elimination terrorism and it must clean up the Punjab cabinet of the “sponsors of terrorism” instead of targeting the Pushtuns.

IMRAN MUKHTAR