Daily Times

There is more than enough evidence to suggest how the Pakhtun Tahaffuz Movement leadership has, ever since its foray into national prominence in 2018, used its popularity to pass intemperate remarks and strike unnecessary controversies.

Surely, a group formed to advocate for the rights of Pashtuns could have done better than to foster an increasingly divisive environment or rely on propaganda peddlers sitting overseas for controversial projection.

On Sunday, the federal government’s ban on the Manzoor Pashteen-led PTM citing security threats in a move that prompted widespread and instantaneous condemnation from the Eastern front, with many questioning what could be so earth-shattering in a purely domestic matter of a country that would spearhead a concerted media campaign, that too, on such short notice.

One of the main arguments put forward by Islamabad is that PTM is a foreign-backed proxy whose aim is not to solve real issues but to create divisions. This is something the well-eloquent leadership could have easily settled by clearing the air about its funding sources and connections with the Indian platforms actively amplifying their voices.

These pages have always emphasised those at the helm of the affairs to prioritise restraint over kneejerk reactions, always sending out a reminder that the tighter you clench the fist, the faster the power slips away. Even today, the need for dialogue to address the core of what PTM stands for remains just as crucial. Meanwhile, it takes two to tango.

While claiming to be an anti-war peace movement, PTM uses hate speech and racism. No qualms about the ease with which such banter gains societal support, but whenever laid bare against the actual writing on the wall, such a narrative almost always fizzles out. If government after government is responsible for a crippling failure to take the PTM on board as a natural ally in its fight against militancy, the latter (at least, some of its overambitious voices) also has yet to distance themselves from half-truths.

The coming days will reveal the true impact of this decision on the Pashtun community and the overall political landscape of Pakistan. But one thing is clear as daylight: the ordinary Pashtuns deserve better than controversial, xenophobic tirades and interference by hawks sitting outside. *