Daily Times

Pashtuns are an ethnic minority group of about 49 million people, and the biggest share of them lives in Pakistan. They are referred to with many names, such as Afghan, Pashtun, Pathan, and Pukhtoon. In Pakistan, they are mostly settled in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, along with tribal areas on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The Pashtuns make up the second largest ethnic group, numbering around more than 35 million, which is 15-16 percent of the total population of the country.

But unfortunately, the Pashtuns have been associated with negative stereotypes, with the most common being the perception that they are war loving, barbaric people, rather than as a dignified people who have paid in blood and money from years of terrorist violence and military sweeps. The Pashtun areas are among the poorest ones in Pakistan; their social indicators reflect 70 years of neglect. Militancy wrecked their infrastructure, and traumatised their population. The economy of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, mostly inhabited by Pashtuns, is weak. What little industry exists is only concentrated in the regional capital, Peshawar. The economic, social and educational disparity between the Pashtun areas and the rest of the Pakistan has a wide gulf.

Since 2001, Pakistani Pashtuns’ sufferings were further aggravated by the United States’ War on Terror when the Pashtuns found themselves caught in the crossfire of the US and Pakistan’s security forces’ battle against al-Qaeda and Taliban, bearing the brunt of military operations in the region, and suffering racial profiling based on where they lived.

Because of these reasons, the Pashtun feels alienated in Pakistan. The rise of a nationalist and ethnic movement for the Pashtun population is the natural corollary of the humiliation and neglect they have had to suffer for decades. Hence the movement named the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) began in 2014. After a military campaign against Taliban in Waziristan, the Pashtun areas witnessed a major turmoil. In 2018, protests against the extrajudicial killing of a 27-year old Pashtun, Naqeebullah Mehsud, in the southern port city of Karachi, sparked countrywide support for the group.

The Pashtuns have been associated with negative stereotypes, with the most common being the perception that they are war loving, barbaric people

The Pashtun movement has spread from the tribal areas to other parts of Pakistan, including big cities. Another important aspect of this Pashtun movement is that it has gained the apathy of mainstream Pakistani political parties, especially the Pashtun ones, like the Awami National Party and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party. It clearly indicates that Pashtuns, across all party lines, are lining up for a common cause.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, a Pashtun himself, is trying his best to pacify the Pashtuns and address their grievances. In January this year, he approved a draft law, criminalising enforced disappearances, which was a very good move that addressed a long-standing demand of the Pashtuns. But PM Khan is also is facing several bottlenecks. PM Khan’s administration is facing challenges in convincing Pakistan’s three provinces to allocate three percent of their share in national resources to the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), a Pashtun majority tribal area.

The argument given for allocation of more funds is that because of the destruction, due to various military operations launched to eradicate terrorists in the former FATA, recently merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), more funds are required, which KP cannot handle with its meagre development funds. But PM Khan is hardly able to convince anyone over this issue.

Apart from the lack of development funds, other issues are also a problem. A year after FATA was merged into Pakistan’s administrative and legal mainstream, Islamabad’s promised reforms are moving at a snail’s pace. While Pakistani courts have struck down some discriminatory laws, the judiciary has yet to establish a foothold in the region. Courts established for the region’s more than five million inhabitants are now working outside their allocated districts. A police force capable of policing the region has yet to take shape.

As the Pashtun tribal areas face severe underdevelopment and extreme poverty-it is estimated that 60 percent of the total population lives below the national poverty line-hence, for the time being, these areas should be given preference in resource-allocation of the state. Special attention should be given towards sustainable employment opportunities through rehabilitation of small and medium enterprises, investment mobilisation, and institutional capacity building.

It would be unwise for Pakistan’s policy makers to perceive Pashtun resentment as a nationalist cause for separation from Pakistan, and use force to curtail it. If coercive actions are taken against the already alienated Pashtuns, it would invite a backlash, and sow the seeds of enduring tension between the Pashtuns and the state. Definitely, a disaster looms in Pakistan if the demands of the Pashtun population remain unaddressed.

The writer is a columnist for Middle-East and Af-Pak region; Emailmanishraiva@gmail.com