Daily Times

The recent commencement of dialogue between the Pakistani government and the Pakhtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) has laid to rest all baseless accusations against the movement. These allegations were levelled by certain talk-show hosts and anchors in the mainstream media. Despite their allegations being proven false and the government accepting PTM’s demands, these hosts and anchors have not bothered apologising for their misleading commentary. Many of these armchair analysts who have never even been to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), yet they talk about the state of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) as if they understand the region.

The callousness with which these people questioned the credentials of the PTM as a grassroots movement, terming it a brainchild of RAW and the NDS, without knowing anything about it or its leadership was shocking. For instance, if one would ask them about Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen’s subcaste within the Mahsud tribe, the majority of them would be speechless. And their silence would be justified considering their lack of basic understanding about the tribal region.

Now lets ask ourselves, can a grassroots movement like the PTM be bought, controlled or appeased?

Only the state of Pakistan can bring the PTM under control, because all of the movement’s demands are from the state

The answer is yes, but it is the only the state of Pakistan which can do this, because all of the movement’s demands are from the state. Money will not be involved. All the state will have to do is treat Pakhtuns as equal citizens of Pakistan. In addition, it will have to stop using them as cannon fodder in its proxy wars and cease abducting and executing them extra judicially. In return, the PTM would offer itself to the state. One can guarantee that Manzoor Pashteen and his comrades will not utter a word against Pakistan after this bargain.

And this wouldn’t be a bad bargain either, as it’s only possible outcomes are peace and repose. Above all this, it will silence the country’s external enemies, whose media is running amuck to find conspiracies against Pakistan.

The PTM is not made up of Pakistan’s enemies. Its members and followers are sons of the soil, who this country’s leadership needs to acknowledge as their own people. For if everyone has the same opportunity to progress and grow, then people will have no reason to protest. The state must play the role of a benevolent elder, and in return the PTM can keep its certain offensive slogans at bay.

The writer can be contacted at asifmahsud44@yahoo.com

Published in Daily Times, May 31^st 2018.