Daily Times

Lahore’s Mochi Bagh echoed with the chants of Da sanga azaadi da (What kind of freedom is this?) last Sunday where Pakhtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) held a public meeting attended by thousands of Pakhtuns from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as well as progressive citizens of Lahore. That the Pakhtun youngsters defied administrative hurdles placed in their way to hold a successful rally speaks volumes about their determination. Unlike political gatherings of a number of mainstream parties, the PTM rally was well-organised despite the fact that the group does not have a formal organisational structure. The crowd was electrified, more so when the movement’s founding leader Manzoor Pashteen took the mic. Every word he said carried substance and the attention with which the crowd listened to him was noticeable. Pashteen’s demands including formation of a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate the war on terror and end to enforced disappearances are very much within the ambit of the country’s constitution. It is unfortunate that a section of mainstream and social media was used by the powers-that-be to carry out propaganda against the PTM by accusing them of receiving foreign funding and having links with RAW and NDS.

At the Lahore jalsa, when Pashteen began narrating the stories of innocent citizens who were allegedly killed by security forces during military action in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), a sense of anger filled the air. Many in the crowd had tears in their eyes when Pashteen told how two children in Darpa Khel village of Waziristan lost their lives when their house came under attack by military shelling. The next day, he said, newspapers reported that all those killed in the shelling were terrorists. The crowd chanted ‘shame’ in response.

Before Pashteen’s speech, revolutionary verses sung by Habib Jalib’s daughter electrified the crowd. Asma Jahangir’s void was filled by her sister Hina Jilani who delivered a strong speech on the occasion and demanded the military establishment to answer as to who picks up youngsters of FATA.

The state should engage with the Pakhtun youth and address their deep-rooted grievances instead of seeing them as a threat. The likes of Khadim Hussain Rizvi, who divide people over religious differences are the real danger

Heirs and friends of missing persons from other provinces were also in attendance. Among the participants were peasant women from Okara who say their land was forcibly taken away by the military administration without provision of compensation amount. When I asked one of them why they had come to support the PTM, she said they have faith in Manzoor Pashteen because he is effectively raising the issue of enforced disappearances. The Okara women said their men went missing for resisting land occupation by the military, and added that they had come to the PTM jalsa to seek the abductees’ recovery along with recovery of all those disappeared without a due process. This shows that the victims of state oppression in Punjab have also placed trust in the Pakhtun Tahaffuz Movement.

Moreover, the presence of a significant number of Punjabi citizens and student activists at the PTM Lahore jalsa indicated that the chances of revival of politics of the left in Punjab are higher than ever. And this is the counter-narrative that Pakistan needs. The narrative of hate and ethnic differences whose seeds were sown by successive government due to their oppressive policies against ethnic minorities can be countered through the intra-provincial unity that was on display at the PTM rally in Lahore.

Meanwhile, activists, students and sympathisers of the PTM are being intimidated and/or arrested by the authorities across the country. A protest demonstration by students and activists of Lahore that took place outside Press Club on Thursday against detention of PTM activists in Sindh was met with police force. As odd as it sounds, the citizens who were protesting police’s high-handedness became victim of the same. Young students were arrested by the Punjab police and taken to undisclosed locations merely for calling for an end to crackdown of PTM activists in Sindh. Most of those arrested by the Punjab police outside the Press Club were released after a few hours as activists mobilised and raised voice against the happening on ground and on social media. But these intimidating tactics by the police continue and activists across the country are being warned against joining any rallies in support of PTM. While a dialogue is said to be taking place between representatives of the government and PTM after KP apex committee and military’s sudden realisation that the demands of the Pakhtun youngsters are not unconstitutional, the nature of these talks and other details are yet to be made public. What we know, however, is that the supporters and sympathisers of the movement are being harassed by the administration across the country. On one hand, the authorities concerned say PTM’s demands are genuine and that the movement’s leaders are ‘our children’ and on the other hand, PTM sympathisers are being illegally detained. This mistreatment of the public at the hands of police needs to end because peaceful protest is the constitutional right of every citizen.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s stance against the establishment in the wake of his disqualification by the Supreme Court is seen by some as the PML-N’s newfound ideological position. But if the recent developments like mysterious disappearances and arrests of PTM leaders and supporters under his party’s government are anything to go by, it appears that the ruling PML-N’s narrative against the establishment and in favour of civilian supremacy merely aims at saving the Sharif family from the ongoing corruption inquiry. The vote ko izzat dou slogan seems hollow when voters are disrespected by none other than those chanting it. Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif would do well to learn from history and realise that appeasement of the deep-state never works. These undemocratic actions against peaceful protesters must stop.

Moreover, censorship on print and electronic media is also in full swing, with articles supporting the PTM stance being taken down from newspapers’ websites. Many writers have also complained about editors refusing to publish articles on the PTM. This wave of censorship is against the democratic norms and the issue should be raised by all democratic forces.

The deep-state is sadly mistaken if it thinks the PTM can be crushed into silence by the use of force. Any steps to intimidate the movement’s supporters would be counterproductive, for the Pakhtun uprising is the result of decades of oppression. The state should engage with the Pakhtun youth and address their deep-rooted grievances instead of seeing them as a threat. The likes of Khadim Hussain Rizvi who divide people over religious differences are the real threat.

The writer is Assistant Editor, Daily Times. She tweets at @AiliaZehra and can be reached at ailiazehra2012@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, April 30^th 2018.