Daily Times

The Pakistani state, especially the civilian part, must have crafted laws and procedures regarding terrorism and related issues, such as abduction, detention and execution. It must have chalked out policies to deal with the threats posed by non-state actors. Instead of implementing the laws, the state resorted to a covert policy at the whims of certain strategists. Consequently, the whole affair became a mess. Foot soldiers among the militants were killed, suspected were abducted, etc.

The state has always been in favour of certain fighters in Fata and their proprietors elsewhere in Pakistan. National Action Plan was chalked but all its mettle came down on dissident voices, crippling of civilian political supremacy and grabbing space for social discourse.

The #PushtunTahafuzMovement or #PTM is a product of this ambiguous policy which was pursued with aims not to counter the existential threat but to further grab political decisions making and financial control. The result was an unaware bulk of society, disoriented and flawed.

Now the questions how to deal with the demand of releasing or trying the missing persons, eradicating terror without discrimination and favour must be keeping the perpetrators sleepless.

It is but very unfortunate that instead of thinking the matter politically and constitutionally, they try to address the rising fury by the same proxies through holding counter-protests.

Pushtun people, like any other community, are not monolithic. They will try to groom people within and outside to face the rising with similar protests. In mainstream Pakistan, they have their parties like the Defaa-e-Pakistan Council and the Rizvi phenomenon but in areas like Fata and KP how they tackle the issue is yet to be known although they have already started Pakistan Zindabad Movement implicitly implying that the #PTM is against Pakistan zindabad mantra which is a slogans children chant on independence day.

Meanwhile, the #PTM leadership must be cautious of any ideological confrontation with them. So far they are doing great but over the time persons may be entered into their ranks to discredit them.

The nationalist political parties have sanely distanced themselves from the #PTM. They must have their own reasons for that but for me, it is a good omen for the #PTM. This distance has done well in keeping a charged bulk of youth of a major political party indecisive. In the other case, this bulk can be used against the #PTM from within the Pushtun community through a charming leader very much in marriage with the forces that be.

Published in Daily Times, April 10^th 2018.