Foreign
Powers Behind the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement By Sajjad Shaukat (JR 184 SS 55)
Three people were killed and five
soldiers injured in a clash between security forces and Pashtun Tahaffuz
Movement (PTM) protesters on May 26, this year in North Waziristan.
In this regard army’s media wing DG of Inter
Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major-General Asif Ghafoor said: “a group led
by Mohsin Javed and Ali Wazir, assaulted Kharqamar check post, Boyya, North
Waziristan tribal district…five soldiers were injured due to the firing of the
group…three individuals who attacked the check post lost their lives during the
exchange of firing. MNA Ali Wazir along with eight others have been arrested
while Mohsin Javed is at large…Only few are inciting and using the people
against state institutions for vested agenda. No one will be allowed to undo
the gains of decades long national struggle and sacrifices especially of brave
Pakistani tribals…Some of the people have become agents of the foreign forces.
They are misguiding people by doing propaganda against the state.”
In this respect,
police registered an FIR against the PTM workers for shouting slogans against
the army and Pakistan—the protesters hurled stones at the army post and that
armed supporters of Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar attacked the security post and
opened fire.
In March, Qila
Saifullah police in Quetta booked PTM representatives Manzoor Pashteen, Moshin
Dawar and Ali Wazir in a hate speech case. The FIR said Pashteen criticised the
army and intelligence agencies.
Earlier, PTM
leader and Member of National Assembly from North Waziristan Mohsin Javed Dawar
surrendered himself to the law on May 30, 209 and was subsequently produced
before an anti-terrorism court in Bannu for physical remand.
In fact, foreign
powers which have been supporting the Baloch
Sub-Nationalists (BSNs) are also behind the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement
(PTM) as part of their unfinished agenda against
Pakistan. They leave no stone
unturned in misguiding the people of the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
(KPK) by creating one after another issue. But, it is regrettable that some
internal entities of Pakistan, which are also assisting some foreign powers,
are manipulating various issues so as to fulfill the external agenda of the
enemies of Pakistan.
In this
connection, emergence of the PTM at a crucial time, which is being paid by
anti-Pakistan hostile elements and countries, aims at accentuating the ethnic
cleavages of the country, influence Pashtun population in pursuance of
strategic objectives of the external powers. So, it stands exposed that the PTM
is heavily dependent on foreign support and financing.
PTM is also
reaching out to the people through the forums of social media and foreign
sponsored network of Mashaal, Deeva, VOA, Indian media and Afghan radio and
television services. Blogs and web pages like “Tribal News” and “Khabaryal” are
heavily financed by Indian Intelligence agency RAW through Nangarhar
(Afghanistan) based Hawala/Hundi business.
Strangely, PTM
leaders are pursuing the agenda through a web having signatures of Foreign
HIAS. Case of the US Army veteran Colonel,
Lawrence Sellin can be quoted as a new example. Colonel Sellin has
started tweeting on anti-Pakistan themes about China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
(CPEC), Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan, Balochistan, Sub-nationalism (Pashtun,
Sindhi, Mohajir, Baloch). He has been following the narratives mostly of
Afghanistan’s intelligence agency National Directorate of Security (NDS) and
RAW. He also writes anti-Pakistan Blogs and articles. Baloch, PTM and
sub-nationalists and Hussain Haqqani are his followers on twitter.
It is
mentionable that a PTM social media activist Arman Luni died in Lorali,
Baloschistan due to an apparent cardiac arrest. PTM alleged that Luni was
killed by police on behest of the state. Luni is presented as Pashtun national
hero by likes of the PTM and their Afghan backers.
It is notable
that Pakistan being the front state in war on terror has rendered sacrifices in
general, while the sufferings of Pashtun segment are undoubtedly colossal. They
have faced tortures at the hands of terrorists such as displacements, life and
economic losses, causing psychological pains. Ironically, when they needed “POST TRAUMA STRESS DISORDER treatment” in
the wake of Pakistan’s successful military operations in flushing out
terrorists, the hostile foreign elements have attempted to prolong their pain
by launching the PTM.
As Pakistan
Armed Forces have flushed out terrorists from Tribal/border areas and are
currently engaged in consolidating the international Pak-Afghan border through
fencing to completely neutralized the infiltrations from Afghanistan, an
orchestrated campaign through sponsored media and activation of the PTM to
incite the Pashtoon population, has been launched. However, the PTM seems to
have failed in instigating the public and creating a commotion leading to
“yellow revolution” like sit-in protest and demonstrations.
As regards the
internal elements, the PTM and other anti-Pakistan slogans are being supported
by the “leftist leaders” and social media activists like Afrasiab Khattak,
Bushra Gohar, Gulalai Ismail, Hussain Haqqani etc. All the PTM activities are
getting extraordinary coverage from the media—VOA, Deeva Radio, Mashaal Radio
and BBC. Understandingly, these activities are more pronounced in the Pashto
language transmissions of these broadcasting stations.
Although the PTM
elements are using the old slogan of “Pashtunistan” (Bar and Lar Afghan) to
provocate the innocent and insensitive populace, yet with negligible effects,
the handlers of the PTM are now acknowledged the failure of their campaign in
creating a stir in Pashtun politics. But, to give a flip to their diminishing
politics, recent incident of death of a local Aman Loni in Baluchistan is being
exploited to resurrect the party activities to some extent.
While, question
arises that if the PTM is sincere to the Pushtun people, as to why it has not
raised the human rights issues, being faced by Pashtun population in
Afghanistan.
It is time to
take the debate of PTM to Afghanistan as Bar Afghan debate. Afghan Pashtuns are
also real Pashtuns as the Pashtuns elsewhere in the world. While, one is
stunned to see that there is no voice for the Afghan Pashtuns on social media,
whereas the so-called cause of the Pakistani Pashtuns is actively propagated by
the external powers.
Real cause of
worry for backers of the PTM is the victory of real Afghan Pashtuns against the
backers of the PTM. Their frustration is high because the PTM is left with very
little time before the real Pashtuns, as the Taliban will be in power in
Afghanistan and the assistance for the PTM from NDS and RAW backed the regime-National
Unity Government (NUG) will die.
The way the
Afghan Pashtuns have been treated and plundered in Afghanistan, is not hidden
from anyone. Afghan Pashtuns have been made to sacrifice their generations,
migrate from their lands, losing their livelihood. Why the VOA, Radio Mashaal,
Radio Deewa and social media propagandists like Afrasiab Khattak and Bushra
Gohar never speak for their plight. Why not to speak for Pashtuns on that side
in Afghanistan?
In fact, PTM is
actually a veritable political entity of the Afghanistan-based
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). It wants to accomplish its nefarious designs
through so-called nonviolent means as to what TTP could not achieve through
violence.
As the number of
the PTM followers is negligibly-few thousands, there is a need of strict legal
and administrative measures to be taken against the group.
It is noteworthy
that as a token of commitment to rebuild
Afghanistan, on March 25, 2018 Pakistan handed over state of the art medical equipment for Nishter Kidney
Centre Jalalabad to Governor of Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
In
this context, Islamabad provided complete medical equipment, worth US $ 5
million to the hospital. In addition, around 75 doctors and technicians were
trained in PIMS Hospital Islamabad, last year and it will be a great help for
Afghanistan in running some hospitals.
Pakistan
also extended assistance to provide specialized training to another 42 Afghan
doctors and technicians at the Institute of Kidney Diseases in Hayatabad
Medical Complex, Peshawar.
Nevertheless,
one wonders as to what the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) is aiming at? Actually, the PTM is acting
against the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) to undermine the successes,
achieved by Pakistan during the war on terror. By raising malicious slogans,
PTM and their backers fail to understand that Pakistani nation is well aware of
their new tactics of using soft power. Their anti-state and state institutions’
agenda is already exposed and real Pashtuns do not trust them anymore, as
foreign powers are behind the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement.
