Why is Pakistan's Pashtun movement under attack?

[Wrath]

They just disappear ,never to be seen again.

Like many Kashmiris over decades have been , right ?

 

[Flash_Ninja]

Aljazeera is biased now?

Any media group that leaves out a years worth of context is biased or misinformed and for big news companies there is no excuse for being misinformed.

 

[Lincoln]

Easy brother. These are our Muslim brothers.

I think admins need to review your profile.

 

[Viking 63]

These people are afghan refugees who have now outlived their welcome in Pakistan, They know very well they will be thrown back to their hell hole called Afghanistan !! PTM is that movement.

 

[Zane_K]

Like many Kashmiris over decades have been , right ?

Disappearances of loved ones is horrible & agonising for any family.
I’ve seen the mothers & wives of young men in Kashmir yearning for some news, waiting for them to come back. They don’t.
( usually)
Be it in Pakistan or Kashmir Disappearances
are not right. In the security concerns of any nation you got to take appropriate actions.
I understand covert killings of enemies of the state.
Interrogations using certain ‘ methods’ are acceptable given the nature. And by the way I do not advocate torture. There are better more successful methods.
Militias who are actively trying to kill citizens / politicians and the military should be dealt with ... however there has to be some rules.
I think most of us would agree on this.

 

[The Eagle]

Sorry but it is not a pashtun movement at all rather an Afghan sponsored lar o bar movement to divide Pakistan. Pashtuns are proud Pakistanis on this side and have nothing to relate with PTM at all. Be it is Pashteen or Dawar or Wazir; been using provocative language, inciting violence and killings of Pakistan Army. Any source or person who think it otherwise or side with them for the so-called HR; will be treated accordingly. There is less to write about PTM innocence but more of their treasonous acts, statements & activities.

 

[Riz]

Just in.. Ali wazir & muhsin dawar both taken into police custody

 

[SIPRA]

Just in.. Ali wazir & muhsin dawar both taken into police custody

Is it on media?

 

[python-000]

Why is Pakistan's Pashtun movement under attack?

Islamabad, Pakistan - Having risen to prominence as one of the most strident critics of Pakistan's powerful military, the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) has subsequently faced a sustained campaign of intimidation, censorship and arrests.

The movement, which advocated for the rights of ethnic Pashtuns affected by Pakistan's war against the Taliban in its northwest, was formed in 2016 by a group of eight university students in the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan. All eight were originally from the neighbouring district of South Waziristan.

Led by veterinary sciences student Manzoor Pashteen, they formed the Mehsud Tahaffuz Movement (MTM), a pressure group seeking to highlight the struggles of the more half a million people who fled their native South Waziristan due to the war.

The district, one of the poorest and least developed in Pakistan, was then part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), governed under colonial-era regulations that gave citizens no fundamental rights and gave the military and civil administration wide-ranging powers with little oversight.

Pashteen, leader of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement, was arrested on Monday and charged with sedition [Al Jazeera]

In this legal grey area, where militias thrived and many members of the Afghan Taliban fighting against US and NATO forces in neighbouring Afghanistan took shelter, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or Pakistani Taliban), was born under the leadership of Baitullah Mehsud in 2007.

Mehsud took a range of armed militias fighting to displace the government and impose a strict interpretation of Islamic law on Pakistan and united them under a single umbrella organisation, the TTP.

From 2007, Pakistan's military undertook a series of military operations to defeat or displace the TTP, most notably Operation Zarb-e-Azb in 2014, which finally displaced most of the group's remaining fighters into neighbouring districts in eastern Afghanistan.

The cost of war
The war, however, was not without a cost, young activists like Pashteen and his comrades in the MTM were quick to point out. They campaigned against widespread enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings conducted as part of the military's fight in South Waziristan, as well as for the removal of landmines and other unexploded ordnance once the fighting ended.

In 2018, they shot to national prominence when they championed the cause of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a young garment trader in Karachi shot dead by police, who claimed he was a fighter with the ISIL (ISIS) armed group.

From the widespread rallies across the country calling for justice for Naqeebullah, the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) was born.

Ethnic Pashtuns from other conflict-affected areas flocked to Pashteen and his partners, sharing similar experiences to those they had been documenting for years in South Waziristan.

The PTM now represented a generation of Pashtuns who were born in conflict-wracked northwest Pakistan.

In mid-2018, two PTM leaders - Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir - were elected to parliament from North and South Waziristan respectively.

Censorship, intimidation, arrests
With increased prominence came increased pressure from the authorities. In Pakistan, which has been ruled for roughly half of its 73-year history by its army, it is rare to hear direct or public criticism of the military.

Pashteen, however, was regularly leading rallies of thousands, directly holding the military responsible for alleged rights abuses, backed up with data and testimony from citizens. A common rallying cry at PTM rallies became "Yeh jo dehshat gardi he, isske peeche wardi he!". "This terrorism, the military is responsible for it!"

Coverage of PTM events and rallies was censored across almost all domestic news outlets, and cases alleging leaders were involved in "sedition" would regularly be filed following PTM events.

In April 2019, the military took on the PTM directly, warning the group that its "time is up" as it alleged the rights organisation was being funded by foreign intelligence agencies. PTM leaders invited the military to file cases or share evidence of such collusion, which the military did not do.

A month later, a PTM rally in North Waziristan was stopped at a military checkpoint. The ensuing clash saw at least three protesters killed, as soldiers opened fire on the demonstration.

Members of parliament Dawar and Wazir were arrested and kept in custody for more than three months on terrorism charges in connection with the case.

Later, in September, prominent PTM leader Gulalai Ismail emerged in the United States after months in hiding and several unsuccessful security forces raids on her residence in the capital Islamabad.

Ismail said she was seeking asylum due to the threats against her life by the military. The military denies involvement.

On Monday, police launched a midnight raid in the northwestern city of Peshawar to arrest Pashteen himself – the first time he has been taken into custody since the PTM rose to prominence. He was accused of sedition and criminal conspiracy, police documents showed.

"Pakistani authorities should stop arresting activists like Manzoor Pashteen who are critical of government actions or policies,” said Brad Adams, Asia director of US-based rights group Human Rights Watch.

"Using criminal laws to chill free expression and political opposition has no place in a democracy," he said in a statement.

oh how much pain in india for pushtuns of Pakistan crocodile tares...

 

[Path-Finder]

This was Mehsud tahufiz movement at first but doubt any foreign backer will support movement limited to 1 district so they changed name.

a fact that gets overlooked, then second fact is the peepee backing. Naqeebullah was killed by zardari's hitman BUT look how they started from that and now threaten Pakistan.

 

[R Wing]

Other than the Americans and perhaps the Israelis, I don't think I've ever seen another people SO brainwashed by mainstream media and their own myths.

 

[sohail.ishaque]

Easy brother. These are our Muslim brothers.

Yeah our muslim brother who kill our other muslim brothers. Leaving them free so that they can kill more of our sons of soil like Tahir Dawar, like APS, like many other,.. But we should not harm them, right. I mean any muslim who is in custody for any murder, robbery, corruption should be freed. after all they are all our muslim brothers.

 

[El Sidd]

The article should be legally protested against for peddling fallacy and propaganda.

There is no persecution of any minority in the country. This opinionated piece is misleading and unprofessional journalism.

 

[waz]

Why is Pakistan's Pashtun movement under attack?

Islamabad, Pakistan - Having risen to prominence as one of the most strident critics of Pakistan's powerful military, the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) has subsequently faced a sustained campaign of intimidation, censorship and arrests.

The movement, which advocated for the rights of ethnic Pashtuns affected by Pakistan's war against the Taliban in its northwest, was formed in 2016 by a group of eight university students in the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan. All eight were originally from the neighbouring district of South Waziristan.

Led by veterinary sciences student Manzoor Pashteen, they formed the Mehsud Tahaffuz Movement (MTM), a pressure group seeking to highlight the struggles of the more half a million people who fled their native South Waziristan due to the war.

The district, one of the poorest and least developed in Pakistan, was then part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), governed under colonial-era regulations that gave citizens no fundamental rights and gave the military and civil administration wide-ranging powers with little oversight.

Pashteen, leader of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement, was arrested on Monday and charged with sedition [Al Jazeera]

In this legal grey area, where militias thrived and many members of the Afghan Taliban fighting against US and NATO forces in neighbouring Afghanistan took shelter, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP, or Pakistani Taliban), was born under the leadership of Baitullah Mehsud in 2007.

Mehsud took a range of armed militias fighting to displace the government and impose a strict interpretation of Islamic law on Pakistan and united them under a single umbrella organisation, the TTP.

From 2007, Pakistan's military undertook a series of military operations to defeat or displace the TTP, most notably Operation Zarb-e-Azb in 2014, which finally displaced most of the group's remaining fighters into neighbouring districts in eastern Afghanistan.

The cost of war
The war, however, was not without a cost, young activists like Pashteen and his comrades in the MTM were quick to point out. They campaigned against widespread enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings conducted as part of the military's fight in South Waziristan, as well as for the removal of landmines and other unexploded ordnance once the fighting ended.

In 2018, they shot to national prominence when they championed the cause of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a young garment trader in Karachi shot dead by police, who claimed he was a fighter with the ISIL (ISIS) armed group.

From the widespread rallies across the country calling for justice for Naqeebullah, the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) was born.

Ethnic Pashtuns from other conflict-affected areas flocked to Pashteen and his partners, sharing similar experiences to those they had been documenting for years in South Waziristan.

The PTM now represented a generation of Pashtuns who were born in conflict-wracked northwest Pakistan.

In mid-2018, two PTM leaders - Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir - were elected to parliament from North and South Waziristan respectively.

Censorship, intimidation, arrests
With increased prominence came increased pressure from the authorities. In Pakistan, which has been ruled for roughly half of its 73-year history by its army, it is rare to hear direct or public criticism of the military.

Pashteen, however, was regularly leading rallies of thousands, directly holding the military responsible for alleged rights abuses, backed up with data and testimony from citizens. A common rallying cry at PTM rallies became "Yeh jo dehshat gardi he, isske peeche wardi he!". "This terrorism, the military is responsible for it!"

Coverage of PTM events and rallies was censored across almost all domestic news outlets, and cases alleging leaders were involved in "sedition" would regularly be filed following PTM events.

In April 2019, the military took on the PTM directly, warning the group that its "time is up" as it alleged the rights organisation was being funded by foreign intelligence agencies. PTM leaders invited the military to file cases or share evidence of such collusion, which the military did not do.

A month later, a PTM rally in North Waziristan was stopped at a military checkpoint. The ensuing clash saw at least three protesters killed, as soldiers opened fire on the demonstration.

Members of parliament Dawar and Wazir were arrested and kept in custody for more than three months on terrorism charges in connection with the case.

Later, in September, prominent PTM leader Gulalai Ismail emerged in the United States after months in hiding and several unsuccessful security forces raids on her residence in the capital Islamabad.

Ismail said she was seeking asylum due to the threats against her life by the military. The military denies involvement.

On Monday, police launched a midnight raid in the northwestern city of Peshawar to arrest Pashteen himself – the first time he has been taken into custody since the PTM rose to prominence. He was accused of sedition and criminal conspiracy, police documents showed.

"Pakistani authorities should stop arresting activists like Manzoor Pashteen who are critical of government actions or policies,” said Brad Adams, Asia director of US-based rights group Human Rights Watch.

"Using criminal laws to chill free expression and political opposition has no place in a democracy," he said in a statement.

The Pure Traitors Movement is just that and pretty soon it will be history.

 

[YeBeWarned]

Lol now Indians will criticize others for treating a certain ethnicity ? this PTM is mainly consist of Afghans and needs to be put down, they attacked Army and talk openly about Pashtoon supremacy ..