Pashtun National Jirga

The inaugural meeting of the Pashtun National Jirga (PNJ; Pashto: پښتون قامي جرګه), also known as the Bannu Jirga (بنو جرګه), was held at Mirakhel Cricket Ground in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 11 to 14 March 2022 to discuss the critical issues faced by the Pashtuns in Pakistan and Afghanistan.^[1][2] It was attended by about 5,000 delegates, including politicians, tribal chiefs, researchers, clerics, religious minorities, women and human rights activists.^[3][4]

Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Nawab Ayaz Jogezai, Muhammad Khan Achakzai, Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal, Abdul Qahar Wadan, Obaidullah Babat, Nasrullah Zayrai, Khushal Kakar, and Arfa Siddiq of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP), Manzoor Pashteen, Mir Kalam, Sanna Ejaz and Wranga Loni of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), Mohsin Dawar, Latif Afridi, Afrasiab Khattak, Basheer Matta, Bushra Gohar and Jamila Gilani of the National Democratic Movement (NDM), Khadim Hussain and Maulana Khanzeb of the Awami National Party (ANP), Afzal Khamosh of the Mazdoor Kisan Party (MKP), Farhatullah Babar and Ahmad Kundi of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Sardar Yaqoob Nasar of the Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN), Muhammad Khan Sherani of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), Chief of Waziristan Gul Alam Wazir, minority rights activist William Jan Barkat, historian Parvesh Shaheen, and numerous other Pashtun, Baloch and Hazara leaders were part of the jirga. The resolutions were also endorsed by several Afghan political leaders, including Hamid Karzai, Haneef Atmar and Amrullah Saleh.^[5]

The jirga declared that Pashtuns were victims of Pakistan's war on terror since 2002, with 60,000 out of the 70,000 Pakistanis killed being Pashtuns. "In the current situation, Pashtuns have over 8,000 missing youth," remarked Manzoor Pashteen. Power over resources, women's rights, and the status of Pashto and other native languages in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan were discussed, and a united Pashtun province comprising Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, North Balochistan and Mianwali was proposed. The participants demanded that a representative government be formed in Afghanistan through a loya jirga and general election that is in line with all international standards. The jirga expressed concerns over Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis, appealed to the international community to help the Afghans, and denounced the barbed barrier along the Durand Line. The jirga also demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners including Ali Wazir.^[6][7][8]