BREWING security challenges in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province merit dispassionate introspection. The recently announced ban on the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) has placed this ethnically motivated pressure group on par with religiously inspired hardcore terrorist organizations. It is time to deliberate on the commonality of objectives between banned ethnic and religiously motivated groups. Surging cross-border terrorism remains at the top of the list of significant interconnected threats. Terrorism emanating from Afghanistan poses multi-dimensional threats to Pakistan. The presence of banned terrorist organizations on Afghan soil is a constant irritant in the fragile security matrix of the region. In a recent report by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was identified as the largest terrorist outfit operating in Afghanistan. The anti-Pakistan agenda of banned outfits such as the TTP, Lashkar-e-Islam and multiple splinter groups cannot be overlooked for obvious reasons.
Pakistan had to fight a prolonged war against terrorism to restore peace in the rugged mountainous areas adjacent to the Afghan border. The banned TTP and its splinter groups lost their foothold due to effective military operations led by the armed forces. However, after fleeing from Pakistan, these hardcore terrorist outfits found safe havens inside Afghanistan. The favorable environment in Afghanistan has enabled these bruised terrorist outfits to regroup and strike back at Pakistan. Much has been disclosed about the supporters, financiers and handlers of banned anti-Pakistan outfits operating from Afghanistan. The arrival of the Afghan Taliban in Kabul could not address Pakistan’s concerns regarding cross-border terrorism. Rather, the banned TTP appears more comfortable with like-minded elements within the Interim Afghan Government (IAG). Contrary to Pakistan’s initial expectations, the IAG preferred sugar-coated advocacy for the banned TTP over taking decisive steps to eliminate the menace.
The erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) have always been a potential base for the banned TTP and its sympathizers. The unwise support of the IAG to anti-Pakistan terrorists has erected more hurdles in the amicable resolution of terrorism-related differences between Kabul and Islamabad. The rise in terrorism in KP is tightly interconnected with violent separatist militancy in Balochistan. The broader narrative of religiously motivated fanatics is well-woven with the current hype of ethnic pressure groups, mostly active in parts of KP and Balochistan. The ominous inclination of ethnically motivated movements towards violence and rebellious rhetoric indicates a generic disrespect for the writ of the state. The banned PTM has been fanning the flames of ethnic prejudice by blatantly exploiting the security crisis in the terror-ridden areas of the erstwhile FATA.
Surprisingly, the so-called Pashtun rights activists have never offered a single workable solution for the betterment of the local populace. In the past, two leaders from the ethnic group were elected to the National Assembly, where their performance was extremely disappointing. Former National Assembly members and the central leadership of the banned PTM are habitual hate-mongers. They incited ethnic violence against the Punjabi community with hateful speeches in public gatherings. This occurred at critical moments when personnel from the armed forces, law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and paramilitary forces were sacrificing their lives in the war against terrorism. Saner voices are perturbed as to why the banned PTM consistently targeted the armed forces with propaganda rather than the Khwarij terrorists responsible for the massacre of Pashtuns.
A similar strategy is being employed by the so-called Baloch rights activists. The banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and splinter groups like the Majeed Brigade are launching terrorist attacks to disrupt normalcy in Balochistan. Anarchist pressure groups exploit the disorder following terrorist attacks to malign state institutions for crimes committed by ethnic separatist militants. The hype surrounding the issue of missing persons, highlighted by a firebrand lady doctor from Balochistan, is a relevant recent example. The long march of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), followed by a sit-in in Islamabad led by female protesters, served no purpose for the simple Baloch people except for enhancing the public image of ambitious activists. The same can be said for the BYC’s Gwadar sit-in. The BYC’s silence on the brutal target killings of non-combatant Punjabi labourers and passengers has unmasked the true face of so-called human rights activists.
What transpired in KP with PTM’s hype about the Pashtun Jirga is more revealing about its deeper nexus with the terrorists of Fitna-al-Khwarij. By demanding the withdrawal of security forces from terror-ridden areas, the PTM is essentially paving the way for the banned TTP. Similar demands were made by sympathizers of the banned TTP before the government-backed Jirga in 2022. It appears that the banned PTM is purposefully striving to undermine the writ of the state through dubious demands. Why did the PTM demand tax-free trade in the region and visa-free movement to Afghanistan? Clearly, ethnic pressure groups like the PTM and BYC are playing the Pashtun and Baloch victimhood cards to divert attention from the heinous crimes of their like-minded terrorist wings. The government has taken the right step by imposing a ban on the PTM. However, the provincial governments of KP and Balochistan should adopt a proactive approach to counter the sinister maneuvers of suspicious ethnic pressure groups.
—The writer is Islamabad-based freelance contributor.
