Daily Times

The emergence of the Pashtun youth movement, which now stands as Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), has taken many by surprise and off guard in the same way as Pashtun were caught in the so called War on Terror. Intoxicated by brute force, blanket control over every aspect of political and social life and imbibed with a sense of above accountability rendered the powers to be to be unable to sense the brewing volcanic eruption.

The sporadic voices were gagged mercilessly and the lull imposed through suppression was interpreted as acceptance and complacency. Human society never accepted perpetual oppression irrespective of its justification on whatever grounds. Pashtun’s sufferings touched its highest bar in the last one and half decades that ravaged their material and immaterial aspects of lives irrespective of social and political affiliation and class.

Their shocking personal experiences and first-hand knowledge were in contrast to the state controlled narrative and picture depicting the situation. No longer was there any room for illusion when every Pashtun had a personal account of horror to share. However, the way the movement emerged and the path it chose to tread perplexed the powers to be on how to respond to this erupting volcano. The young leaders of the movement launched themselves in an unprecedented manner exhibiting political maturity and ingenuity, a rare commodity in this unfortunate land, to emphasise the righteousness of the cause linking it to universal human and constitutional rights.

The more the state oppresses voices, the more velocity PTM will gain over time

The leadership and followers of the movement belonged to a generation that came of age during exceptional violence and destruction. Much to their detractors’ efforts to fabricate the violent Pashtun imagery, they upheld the language of peace and non-violence, despite experiencing personal miseries. But the powers to be continue to feign deafness. Panic struck when the violent Pashtun imagery contrasted with the peaceful. Lack of innovation in their black tool kit is forcing them to employ repeated past absurdities. When they could not dispute personal and eye witness accounts narrated publicly for the first time by victims of the #PashtunLongMarch and later through the PTM platform, they used the hackneyed accusations of dubbing the movement foreign sponsored, ethnically centred and anti-army.

The media and anchorpersons parroting these prompted lines also need a face saving because they have toed the given line for more than a decade. They always look into the War on Terror drama, staged at the expense of Pashtun blood, through the narrow official window. The same anchors are trying to give PTM an ethnic colour justifying it on the ground that Pashtun were not the only ones to suffer. But PTM blew their cover.

Yes, bomb blasts were witnessed by almost every province. But only the Pashtun land was subjected to the highest degree of violence and destruction, reducing the Pashtun identity to terrorists and perpetrators, not victims. What would be the reaction if Lahore undergoes bombing by jets, heavy artillery shelling, daily humiliation at check points after every three to five km? How would the Punjabi and Sindhi feel if faced with racial profiling at time of their vulnerability?

There would be no ethnic dimension if at least civil society in Punjab and Sindhi raised their voice against the atrocities and expressed solidarity with the Pashtun by questioning the conduct of the state. So far, the PTM did not question the distribution of resources, their share in political power and state policy making but only demanded basic human and constitutional rights.

The media under the influence of establishment terms the movement anti-establishment by giving the impression that the army liberated the Pashtun from Taliban and are now criticising their liberators.

Why should liberation require ubiquitous military check points which are still functioning as an entry into destroyed homes turned into concentration camps?

If one takes it on face value that Taliban were not a proxy and an indigenous self-grown phenomenon, what could be achieved for the Pashtun by slaughtering and destroying them? And if it was an imposed proxy, who imposed it? If the army liberated Pashtun from Taliban why were they kept in the most oppressive environment through a denial of free mobility and association?

The FATA and Malakand Division are only controlled by the army. Therefore, army is responsible for good or bad happening there.

In other parts of the world people come to the streets to protest a terrorist act and express solidarity with the victims but here curfews are imposed and search operations begin in the aftermath of a blast or target killing. Why should anti-Taliban and anti-war on terror voices suffer equally? It is strange how anyone questioning the War on Terror is conducted considered an enemy by both the establishment and Taliban. The international community is in debt to Pakhtuns in this regard. They were made a scapegoat at the altar of nefarious regional and international motives due to which the Pashtun not only physically suffered but their image as an ethnic group had been deformed.

The Nazis used Jews as scapegoat for their perceived failure while Pakistani generals turned Pakhtun into gunpowder for their perceived victory in the South Asian theatre and as a cover to continue the same policy what publically denounced under international pressure. This Pashtun specific Holocaust should now come to the end.

It is also a fact that violence against Pashtun on both sides of the Durand Line has emanated from the same mindset and objectives. Whoever wants to achieve strategic and policy objectives in Afghanistan through violent means turns Pashtun land on this side of the line into a launching pad and subsequent violence. Peace on any side of the Line can contribute to peace on the other side as well, therefore voices for peace should be encouraged on both sides.

Ali Wazir from South Waziristan is a classic example. He lost 17 members of his family, mostly in targeted killing, his every source of livelihood were destroyed. His petrol pump, house in Azam Warsak were blasted by the Taliban because he was anti-Taliban. His bus terminal at Bannu was forcefully closed. His market of 120 shops was blasted by the security forces under the controversial rule of collective responsibility. His losses were never compensated. Material or otherwise.

The most grisly part of the War on Terror in FATA is the selling of debris of destroyed properties as scrap. If the Taliban were on the run from bombing and shelling and the people FATA were displaced, who sold the remains of the destroyed properties as a scrap?

The PTM’s valid demands remain unrequited. Check posts continue as a daily occurrence of humiliation. Instead of reverting to coercive methods and registering FIRs against the leader of PTM and organizers of peaceful public gatherings, state should change its course.

The more the state prolongs this drama, the more serious questions and consequences it will face. The more the state oppresses voices, the more velocity it will gain over time.

The writer is a political analyst hailing from Swat. Tweets @MirSwat

Published in Daily Times, March 22^nd 2018.