February 4, 2018 saw thousands of angry Pashtun youth gathered outside the press club in Islamabad chanting ‘Azadi’ (freedom) slogans and highlighting human rights violations against the community. Though the Pakistani military has been indulging in systemic genocide in Pakistan, human rights violations in Balochistan and FATA, state imposed terrorism and militarism, the catalyst for the agitation was provided by the killing of Naqeeb Mahsood, a Pashtun youth aged 27, in Karachi on January 13 in fake police encounter, and police having put forged charges against him for having links with terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and ISIS. These false claims were challenged by Naqeeb’s family and following a Sindh Government inquiry, Naqeeb was proved innocent; the investigation team establishing Naqeeb was killed in fake police encounter.
Above led to Pashtun youth from Waziristan commencing a Long March from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) on January 26, loudly chanting slogans criticizing Pakistan’s security agencies for harbouring, sheltering and conducting terrorism in FATA and Afghanistan, aimed at de-Pashtunisation and undermining US-led war on terror. The march was joined by more than 10,000 Pashtuns from KPK and Balochistan provinces. Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen addressed the protestors. Several tribal elders from Waziristan also addressed the procession, saying Pakistani army has been planting landmines and bombs in the area, taking lives of children and livestock. They called on the UN and US-led international community to take notice of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, human rights violations and slow-motion genocide against Pashtuns in FATA.
Speakers at the PTM rally, which included relatives of missing persons, emphasized they were only demanding their constitutional rights. Manzoor Pashteen said the federation of Pakistan comprised all ethnic groups who have the same rights. “Pashtuns, Balochs, Punjabis and Sindhis are bound by the Constitution of Pakistan… We want our issues resolved through the Constitution and according to the country’s laws.” He demanded: immediate halt to “game being played with Pakhtuns” including alleging Taliban are not stopped at the check-posts but peaceful Pashtun protesters are stopped and threatened; end to unconstitutional practices against Pashtuns; withdrawal of security forces in SWAT since peace had been restored; release or producing of missing persons in courts. Manzoor Pashteen said those accusing PTM of treachery were traitors themselves. Pakistan media was blacked out, even as Mohsin Dawar, political activist from North Waziristan told Voice of America that the protests were not just about Naqeeb’s killing, but about people of FATA and KPK put in this war for decades, while Noreen Naseer, professor at Peshawar University said, “It is not about only North and South Waziristan but the whole Pashtun belt living on the periphery.”
The protests are being termed the ‘Pashtun Awakening’ or the ‘Pashtun Spring’. One protester voiced the sentiment saying this is beginning of the movement against the barbarism which this government is committing for the past 15 years in FATA, Waziristan and KPK, adding, “Today, we have announced we will not face this barbarism anymore”. Pashtuns ended their protest in Islamabad after 10 days, but vowed to reconvene if their demands were not met. In a series of tweets, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said the Pashtun march was a positive initiation against fundamentalism, one tweet saying, “I fully support the historical Pashtun Long March in Pakistan. The main purpose of which is to mobilize citizens against fundamentalism and terrorism in the region”.
During a second rally at Lahore in April, PTM announced formation of a ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’ to address the plight of people of KPK and FATA. Manzoor Pashteen also announced two more rallies to be held in Swat and Karachi. He talked of racial discrimination against Pashtuns and extortion by Punjab police, adding, “They extort money from Pushtuns and now they are apprehending them … This must stop, otherwise, we will again march onto Lahore.” He publicly stated what is already well known that “The military has become a state within a state.” Among those who addressed the rally was also Advocate Fazal Khan, whose son was killed in the terrorist attack at Army Public School, Peshawar on December 16, 2014. Significantly, Mudassar Iqbal, SSG of Pakistan admitted on video, he was part of that terrorist attack on Army School, Peshawar (see video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GduZ4jC6y0), which shows the extent to which the Pakistani military can go to terrorize Pashtuns.
The Pakistani media reacted to the Lahore rally. Zahid Hussain wrote in Dawn on April 25, “What is most dangerous is when the views of the government and other major political parties appear to be at variance with that of the security establishment. The divide was very much in evidence during last week’s Pakhtun rally in Lahore. At the other end, the growing assertiveness of the establishment has its own perils…. there is concern that the slow process of the reform could further alienate the tribal population and lead to a greater challenge for political and military authorities…. We have paid dearly for the mistakes we have made in Balochistan and in other parts of the country …. security establishment must also realize that it is popular discontent and the deprivation of rights that fuel instability and create a conducive atmosphere for external forces to intervene…”.
Pakistani scholars exhorted Pakistani authorities and Army Chief QJ Bajwa to engage PTM since most PTM demands relate to law-enforcement, which appear genuine. One write up said, “One doesn’t know what type of picture is being presented to Gen Bajwa and his men about PTM. Perhaps they might be aware that people in KP and Fata would abandon Manzoor Pashteen the day they felt he was working on someone’s agenda”. But speaking at an investiture ceremony in Peshawar on April 25, Bajwa said that “engineered protests” would not be allowed to reverse the gains of counterterrorism operations and cautioned the nation against forgetting sacrifices of “real heroes”. Bajwa’s statement shows that any let up in military campaign in these regions is unlikely.
Manzoor Pashteen’s, charge that in the name of its “war on terror” the military has used indiscriminate force as it hunts for Taliban hideouts in the tribal regions where the Pashtun dominate, imposing collective punishments like bulldozing the homes of family members of suspected militants and punishing entire villages for extremist attacks, is wholly true. What he has left unsaid is that for the Pakistani military, Pashtuns who join the Taliban are ‘good’ and balance Pashtuns anti-army, and therefore expendable. During height of ‘Zarb-e-Momim’ local journalists reported military passing advance information to Taliban leaders before aerial attacks and artillery bombardment, enabling their escape. It is on record that hundreds of Pashtuns and their families have been killed and thousands displaced.
The Pashtun populations in Afghanistan and Pakistan were artificially sepatrated by the British-imposed Durand Line. Both the NWFP were forced t join Pakistan by the Pakistani military, but Afghanistan has never recognized the Durand Line. With majority Pashtuns living in Afghanistan, Islamabad is using its Pashtun connections to project influence into Afghanistan; as part of its proxy war. FATA and Balochistan have been facing genocide by the Pakistani military past two decades; which has exponentially gone up in Balochistan with the CPEC coming up through the region and the Gwadar Port. These harsh measures are fully backed by China, one example being China gifting three new Chinese CAIC Z-10 armed attack helicopters to Pakistan for targeting those interfering with the CPEC.
In the past, Robert Blackwell had recommended establishment of de-facto Pashtunistan. More recently in December 2017, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned Pakistan it could lose control of its territory unless Islamabad abandons ties with terrorist groups operating in the country that are growing in “size and influence.” China is acutely aware of Pakistan’s restive regions, especially because of the CPEC, Gwadar and future Jiwani military base. That is why China is continuing to press Pakistan for establishing a PLA base in FATA. With a PLA Brigade Base already close to Skardu and assured PLA footprints in —- region of Afghanistan to help raise a Mountain Brigade for Afghan Army, a PLA Base in FATA will give China much better grip in the region, albeit whether that would improve the situation for Pashtuns or not, only future would tell.
Given the grip that Pakistani army has on Pakistan, and its two-way nexus with multiple terrorist organizations, whether it can change its stance towards the ‘good’ Pashtuns is also questionable. There are also two other problems that Pakistan has to contend with. First, is minimal development in these troubled regions, where development is namesake? Pakistan’s defence budget leaves only 15.2% for development for entire country, but then for example, KPK had used only 45% of Annual Development Program for 2017-2018 with only 25 days left in financial year. Second, is the population bomb. Talat Massod wrote in the Express Tribune on April 25, 2015, “Considering the quality of discourse of politicians, it is unlikely that serious issues like population control …. that have long-term impact will be raised … countries that had troubled internal security situation … experienced the highest increase in population… Millions of displaced persons living in refugee camps and influx of people from other troubled regions could be another contributing factor… For Pakistan an unchecked population growth that specialists’ project will reach over 400 million in the next 25 years poses the greatest security threat apart from its other deleterious effects”.
With elections approaching, and some political parties of Pakistan supporting the Pashtun ‘Awakening’ / ‘Spring’, the Pakistani military can dismiss the movement as election gimmick, mush as the Qamar Javed Bajwa, Pakistani army chief indicated these were “engineered protests”. But then the ball is in the military’s court.
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