ISLAMABAD – Being myself a proud Pashtun , I feel no hesitation in sayingthat Pashtun Tahafuz Movement is not a Pakhtoon Spring but a sponsored andtailor-made movement to malign the most respected institution of thePakistani Army? The narrative of PTM as enunciated by Manzoor Pashteen inPeshawar, Lahore, and swat , cannot be a narrative of a patriotic Pakistaniespecially he claims himself to be a Pashtoon.
Pashtoon are indebted to the sacrifices by the Army to make us proud aswhen our mosques, Imam Bargahs, Universities, Schools, and all publicplaces were on the hit-list of terrorists. Pakistani nation and army havemade a lot of sacrifices in the war against terrorism. We had to facemassacre of 150 innocent children in APS and numerous such tragic events.We have paid a huge price in the form of blood PTM or something else of ourbeloved ones for peace. High morals of Pakistan Army made possible theeradication of all terrorist safe havens from Pakistan.
COAS was true that there was a total absence of Pushtoon Tahaffuz Movement(PTM) type campaign in recent past. When brave soldiers and officers ofPakistan army were fighting the curse of terrorism no one was aware of thePTM and their forerunners. But when Normalcy has returned to FATA and Peaceis established then a new movement has emerged in the name of Pashtunethnicity. Whereas, one must admit the fact The army, which has been themain target of foreign sponsored PTM, consists of more than 21% Pashtuns.Any criticism on the Army , means belittling the role and contribution ofPashtoon army personnel who laid down their lives to uphold the theirtraditions of bravery and gallantry.
By viewing through transparent glasses one can easily analyze the realityof PTM based on following facts and figures.
Pashtun Tahafuz Movement wrongful claims itself a movement for theprotection of rights of Pashtuns. Pashtun makes nearly 15% of totalpopulation of Pakistan. Pashtuns are employed in nearly all statedepartments without any discrimination.
After successful counterterrorism operations in FATA and tribal areas,Government has launched many development projects in these war-tornfar-flung areas. These programs have created many avenues of livelihood forlocal Pashtuns. Despite these facts, if still, some Pashtuns think thatthey are alienated by the establishment; they can pursue their demandsthrough proper channel.
People who are attracted towards PTM’s charming slogans must think thatwhere they were when there was a high wave of terrorism in all Pakistan. Wehave defeated enemy proxies like TTP whose captured leader Ehsan UllahEhsan admitted that Indian intelligence agency RAW was at their back.
Now, when Indian proxies have totally flopped in Balochistan and KP, theemergence of this kind of movement is clear evidence that there are someregional powers at their back that are funding them. They want to exploitethnicity in Pakistan to promote instability. No one knew Manzoor Pasheenbefore 2018. PTM has still not disclosed its sources of funding forgatherings.
PTM’s main demands are related to missing persons and check posts in tribalareas. The issue of missing persons is not new to people Pakistan. A largenumber of such missing persons are believed to be residing in sanctuariesof hostile neighbors like Afghanistan and India. With the significant dropin insurgency and terror activities in tribal areas, the number of missingpersons have also declined substantially.
As far as the matter of Check posts are concerned, Pakistan Army is notfond of establishing check posts. These check posts are just for securityreasons. Native people of FATA and KP know that before these check postswhat was the condition of their areas. These check posts have played animportant role in bringing normalcy back to FATA and other areas ofPakistan.
As pashtoon we believe that Army should maintain these check posts untilthe complete clearance of area. The number of these check posts is alsoreducing with the passage of time. If PTM is right in its stance then itshould come out for protest when these posts were established. PTM orsomething else capturing of Indian naval commander Kul Bhushan Yadhav fromBalochistan border is also a clear evidence that Indian intelligenceagencies are providing every kind of support to Baloch separatists. It isnot the first time, it is since 1947 that Pakistan enemies are trying tosabotage it.
But Our founding father Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had truly saidthat there is no Power on earth that can undo Pakistan. If we take anoverview of all such kind of movements in past it becomes very clear thatall such kind of movements were totally India supported. Mukti Bahni, TTP,BLA, BLF, UBA all were nothing except proxies of our enemies. Indiancurrent Prime Minister already admitted this fact while addressing inBangladesh that he was among volunteers who worked for the separation ofEast Pakistan.
I must conclude by saying that this is all the narrative of Pakistan`senemies. The Pakistani nation must not pay heed to such movements which arejust pawns of our enemies. We should work hard together to defeat all ourinternal and external enemies.
By: S. M Abdullah
tags: PTM