Pashtun Tahafuz Movement

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Pashtun Tahafuz Movement
پښتون ژغورنې غورځنګ (
rights of Pashtuns
Chairman
Facebook
Formerly called
Mahsud Tahafuz Movement (From May 2014 until January 2018)[1]

The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM;

Urdu: پشتون تحفظ تحریک, Pashtūn Tahaffuz Tehreek lit. 'Pashtun Protection Movement') is a social movement for Pashtun human rights based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan. It was founded in May 2014 by eight students in Dera Ismail Khan. On 1 February 2018, the name of the movement was changed from "Mahsud Tahafuz Movement" ('Mahsud
Protection Movement') to "Pashtun Tahafuz Movement."

During

South Waziristan.[5][6] Other prominent activists in it include Ali Wazir, Mohsin Dawar,[7] Mir Kalam, Alamzaib Mahsud, Abdullah Nangyal, Fazal Khan, Gulalai Ismail, Sanna Ejaz, Wranga Loni,[8] and the late Arman Loni, Arif Wazir, Usman Kakar, and Noor Islam Dawar. PTM claims to be an unarmed and peaceful resistance movement working within the lawful boundaries of the Constitution of Pakistan.[9] The Pakistan Army and several journalists have claimed that the movement is trying to create discord in the country along ethnic lines, as well as following a foreign agenda.[10] The movement has seen strong support from neighboring Afghanistan, which traditionally has an uneasy relationship with the government of Pakistan.[11]

History

Background

Pashtun territory has been a war zone since the 1980s, since the Cold War between the Soviet Union and United States and the following conflict between western and Islamist forces. The PTM therefore campaigns against war, blaming both the Taliban and the Pakistani military for the destruction.[12]

Early history

The movement was founded as Mahsud Tahafuz Movement in May 2014 by eight students in Dera Ismail Khan as an initiative for removing

war in North-West Pakistan.[13][1]

The movement rose to prominence in January 2018 when it began a justice movement for

fake encounter staged by the police officer Rao Anwar in Karachi.[14] When the movement gained popularity among the Pashtuns in February 2018, the word "Mahsud" in its name, which referred to the Mahsud tribe from Waziristan, was changed into "Pashtun" to refer to all Pashtuns.[citation needed
]

The movement, which has inspired global Pashtun solidarity, has been dominated by youth, and thrives on social media while lacking significant coverage in mainstream media. According to Saleem Shah, it has challenged military power where typical Pashtun nationalist parties have not dared. However, the PTM lacks organizational structure and a political manifesto, as of 2018.[12]

In November 2018, PTM launched a justice movement for Tahir Dawar, a police officer and Pashto poet who was abducted from the capital Islamabad and tortured to death, with his corpse found 18 days after disappearance in the Dur Baba District of Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.[15] PTM, as well as Tahir's family, demanded that Tahir's murder must be investigated through an international commission rather than a Pakistani one because the case involved two countries.[16][17] PTM again gained international press coverage in February 2019 when the Balochistan Police allegedly extrajudicially murdered one of the leaders of PTM, Arman Loni, in Loralai. Protests followed which led to the detention of more than 20 PTM activists, including Gulalai Ismail and Abdullah Nangyal.[18][19][20][21] In May 2020, after the assassination of PTM leader Arif Wazir, another wave of widespread protests was held during which several PTM activists, including Gilaman and Nadeem Askar, were arrested by Pakistani authorities.[22] The Pashteen hat (also known as the Mazari hat) has become the most iconic symbol of PTM, as Manzoor Pashteen regularly wears it at public rallies and events.[23]

Kharqamar incident

Main article: Kharqamar incident

On 26 May 2019, there was a clash between the Pakistan Army and PTM activists who were holding a protest gathering near the Kharqamar check post in

North Waziristan. To stop the demonstration, the security forces killed at least 13 PTM supporters and injured over 25 others. The military said PTM members attacked security forces before any shooting began and injured several soldiers, but the army showed no evidence to contradict the witness accounts and videos, that largely pointed to the contrary.[24][25][26][27] Several PTM activists, including two members of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar, were arrested by the security forces after the incident and curfew was imposed in the area. A day after this incident, the opposition parties walked out of the National Assembly of Pakistan in protest, and asked Asad Qaiser, who was the Speaker of the National Assembly and a leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), to produce Wazir and Dawar before the parliament so that they could explain their viewpoint about the incident at the parliament sessions, but the speaker refused.[28]

After almost four months in jail, Wazir and Dawar were released on bail on 21 September 2019.[29] On 14 October 2020, the government withdrew the Kharqamar case against PTM, and Wazir and Dawar were acquitted of the charges against them.[30][31]

Objectives

The main demands of PTM presented during the Pashtun Long March's gatherings in 2018 included, among others:

State Terrorism

The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement has highly demanded that

forced disappearances must be stopped.[3]

Torture of Pashtuns

PTM demands that torture and collective punishment against entire villages and tribes in the Pashtun tribal areas, especially after a violent incident, must be stopped[33] The humiliation of locals at army checkpoints in the Pashtun areas must be ended.[4]

Pashtun marches

Islamabad sit-in

Powershow of PTM in Bannu attended by thousands of Pashtuns.

On 26 January 2018, the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement organized a protest march starting from

police encounters. The jirga demanded to stop racial profiling of the Pashtuns in Pakistan, and to bring the Pashtun missing persons before the court of law, so that those who are innocent but held could be freed.[38] The jirga also demanded Pakistan Army to guarantee that they will not abduct or open fire on innocents in the tribal areas, or use violence or collective punishment against entire villages and tribes, and that they will not impose the frequent curfews on the movement of locals even after minor incidents.[39] Another demand was to remove all landminess planted in the tribal areas, which have resulted in many civilian casualties. The protesters said that since 2009, more than 35 people including children had been killed due to landmines in South Waziristan alone.[40]

The sit-in in Islamabad ended on 10 February, but the organizers of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement announced that they would reconvene the protest if their demands were not fulfilled by the government.

South Waziristan, an intermediate college establishment in name of Naqeebullah Mehsud, and promised to addressed "genuine gravencies" raised by Jirga members.[42] Muqam also told the protestors, "the way you held the peaceful protest is really commendable and others should learn a lesson to record their protests this way. I’ll stand by you in trying times and you can come to discuss with me all of your legitimate issues anytime."[42]

On 13 May 2018, family members of missing Pakistanis participated in a protest rally by Pashtun Tahafuz Movement in Karachi, Pakistan by holding photos of their relatives.[43]

Public gatherings

Main article: PTM public gatherings

PTM has held public demonstrations at various places, including

South Waziristan, Swabi, Swat, Battagram, Tank, Zhob, as well as in several Western countries including Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[44][45]

Media blackouts

The powershows and rallys of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement are not shown by mainstream media channels as they are not allowed by the

Khyber TV, a Pakistani Pashto-language channel, chose not to air an interview with Manzoor Pashteen because of pressure from the military.[48]

On 23 March 2018, the PTM meeting was scheduled to be held in

Peshawar University, but Deputy Commissioner Peshawar Islam Zeb, issued an order under section 144 CrPC, imposing ban on political meetings in University and stated any violation against the order shall be preceded against u/s 188 PPC and order will be exercised "for 30 days unless modified or withdrawn."[49] Later the meeting was held in Baghi-e-Naran, Hayatabad with 200 person attending the gathering.[49]

The movement's anthem is "Da Sanga Azadi Da?", which means "What kind of freedom is this?". Many Pashtun's have discovered their voice with this anthem and it encloses the various grievances they have from being caught between the militants and the military.[50][51]

On 26 April 2019,

Pakistan Peoples Party's Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Farhatullah Babar and Bushra Gohar condemned NPC for their move. The next day, NPC issued statement claiming that the lawmakers had not made any prior bookings.[53][54] The Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor told the journalist Hamid Mir not to invite PTM members on media in response to a question by the journalist as to whether the media houses should invite PTM leaders on TV channels.[55] On 29 April 2019, Asif Ghafoor said PTM would no longer be tolerated. "Their time is up,"[56] he said of PTM at the press conference.[57][58]

Criticism of the Pakistan Army

Main article: Criticism of the Pakistan Armed Forces

PTM is critical of the Pakistan Army and accuses the state of violating the basic human rights of the Pashtuns,[59] but the Pakistan Army has claimed that PTM is backed by foreign powers and their gatherings are "engineered".[60][61] PTM claims that as a result, news organizations in Pakistan have been pressured to ignore PTM, and university professors have been forced to identify the students attending PTM's protest gatherings.[60] Some Pakistani politicians and journalists also view PTM as working on a foreign or Pashtun nationalist agenda.[62] However, PTM's leadership has claimed that they are protesting through peaceful means within the Constitution of Pakistan.[9]

enforced disappearancess allegedly carried out by the Pakistani military.[63] Due to the allegations of treason against Gulalai Ismail by the Pakistan police, she went into hiding and eventually took refuge in the United States.[63]

PTM leader

Pakistan Army Chief, stated on 1 July 2021 that Wazir would have to apologize for criticizing the Pakistan Army and then he could be released, but Wazir refused to apologize.[67][68][69] On 14 March 2022, the Pashtun National Jirga in Bannu demanded that Wazir be immediately released along with all other political prisoners.[70]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Anatomy of a political moment". Himal Southasian. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  2. ^ a b c PTM seeks formation of commission on extrajudicial killings. Dawn. 23 April 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Produce missing persons in courts, says PTM. Dawn. 30 April 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Pakistan's Manzoor Pashteen: 'Pashtuns are fed up with war', dw.com, 2018-04-11.
  5. ^ "Manzoor Pashteen: The voice of Pashtuns for many in Pakistan". www.aljazeera.com. 17 March 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
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  8. ^ "Why female Pashtun activists matter for PTM". Asia Times. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
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  15. ^ Sama, Digital (15 November 2018). "A cross-border mystery: Timeline of SP Tahir Khan Dawar's murder". SAMAA TV. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
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  22. ^ "Amid complete media blackout, PTM stages worldwide protests against killing of Arif Wazir". Sayhoon News. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  23. ^ Alikozai, Hasib Danish (6 April 2018). "Hats Proliferate as Symbol of Pashtun Protest Movement". Voice of America. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  24. ISSN 0362-4331
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  26. ^ "3 killed, 15 injured in 'PTM-Army clash' in North Waziristan". Pakistan Today. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
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  34. ^ "Long march against Naqeeb killing reaches Peshawar". Daily Times. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
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  49. ^ a b "Section 144: Pashtun Tahafuz Movement barred from campuses - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
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  53. ^ Gohar, Bushra (26 April 2019). "What a shame? Darta hain bandonkon walla purAman #PTM #Pashtun naujowano sa! #PakMediaUnderSiege". @BushraGohar (in Hindi). Retrieved 8 July 2019.
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  56. ISSN 0362-4331
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  62. ^ "Manzoor Pashteen's PTM: A 'Rights Movement' or a new 'Regional Agenda'?".
  63. ^ a b McDonnell, Tim (2 October 2019). "Escape To New York: Afraid For Her Life, A Pakistani Activist Seeks Asylum". NPR. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
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  70. ^ "Parties convene Jirga to defend rights of Pashtuns in Pakistan". Asian News International. 12 March 2022.
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