PTM, PTI and Pashtun Qaumi Jirga

The much-hyped Pashtun Qaumi Jirga organised in Jamrud, Khyber District by the recently banned Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) with the government's support from 11-13 October concluded on Sunday. The delegates from different political parties, tribes and other professional organisations at 60 different enclosures discussed, and subsequently presented their 22 consolidated recommendations. The main thrust of the deliberations remained restoration of peace and normalcy in KP and Balochistan.

To substantiate its points of view, the PTM presented data at the Jirga, claiming that 5.7 million people were displaced due to terrorism and military operations over the last two decades. Out of this, at least 2.3 million people are still homeless. It reported 76,584 persons killed, including 1,375 tribal elders and 3,000 religious figures. And around 6,700 people were 'missing'. In damage to the infrastructure the PTM claimed 370,000 houses and mosques were completely or partially destroyed. Jirga organisers also focused on losses due to non-exploitation of natural resources and the enduring 'sense of deprivation' among locals. PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen also asked delegates to consider withdrawal of security forces and TTP within 60 days from the erstwhile tribal belt.

Quite a sizeable number of women's rights activists and students also attended the Jirga on the final day. Besides KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur, who played the lead role, KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi also visited the Jirga. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was also on board, besides almost all political parties.

The fact that PTM was able to mobilise a sizeable crowd across tribal, political and official lines and hold three-day parleys under good administrative arrangements, without any serious incident, is commendable. However, whether it can lead to the cherished goal of restoring peace and normalcy in the Pashtun lands under the weight of sociology alone is another issue. Likewise, the data presented by PTM has been challenged by the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute of Conflict and Strategic Studies (PICSS), which meticulously maintains its own database on human and material losses. PICSS considers PTM data exaggerated.

Although PTM remained restrained during the Jirga from anti-state rhetoric, it also failed to squarely blamed the perpetrators of violence in Pashtun lands in the first place, or mention the sheer scope of developmental works that has taken place in erstwhile FATA essentially under the security forces in improving infrastructure, health, education and water supply. And the fact that without persistent operations, FATA would have been a TTP fief with its own version of Islam, justice system and revenue extraction…that would have been much more predatory. However, this notwithstanding, the mass mobilisation for peace is still better and should be wisely harnessed by the State and political forces.

The PTM is a Pashto acronym for Pa?t?n Zhgh?r?n? Gh?r?ang or Pasht?n Tahaffuz Tehreek or Pashtun Protection Movement. It was founded by eight students in Dera Ismail Khan in 2014 as Mahsud Tahafuz Movement (Mahsud Protection Movement). It was later changed to PTM to widen its appeal from narrow ethnicity of Mehsud Tribe to incorporate the larger Pashtun sentiment and sympathy, as a social movement for Pashtun human rights. The Movement demands truth and reconciliation in investigating extrajudicial killings, presenting missing persons before courts, and removal of landmines from the erstwhile tribal areas.

PTM is led by Manzoor 'Pashteen' (a Mehsud or maseed version of Pashtun) from SWD alongside activists Ali Wazir, Mohsin Dawar, Gulalai Ismail, Sanna Ejaz, Wranga Loni, Usman Kakar, Noor Islam Dawar and Gilaman Wazir from KP and Balochistan. PTM claims to be working peacefully for its demands within the confines of Pakistan's Constitution, hence recent ban on it is considered ill-advised and counterproductive for state narrative, especially when it was able to convene such a mammoth Jirga under state facilitation. Miltablishment's accusations of PTM include trying to create ethnic discord, following a foreign agenda and strong support from Afghanistan, however, this has resulted in an on-and-off policy. Amnesty International and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan have called for the ban reversal.

PTM shot to prominence in February 2018 by championing the cause of extrajudicial killing of Naqibullah Mehsud in Karachi, blamed upon a police officer Rao Anwar. The same year, it called for a judicial probe into the killing of Tahir Dawar, a police officer and Pashto poet, abducted from Islamabad and later found dead in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. In February 2019, it demanded investigation into the extrajudicial killing of Arman Loni, a PTM leader allegedly killed by Balochistan Police in Loralai. And on 26 May 2019, PTM activists protesting near Khar Qamar check post in NWD clashed under chaotic circumstances with Army troops, resulting in the killing of 13 PTM supporters and injuries to another 25. Security forces arrested several PTM activists, including its MNAs Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar, releasing them later in September 2019, when the government also withdrew Khar Qamar case against PTM.

The Movement mainly survives on social media and lacks organisational structure and political manifesto. Its strong anti-Army credentials, ethnic overtones and standing for the Pashtun rights had popularised it among anti-establishment circles and youth, where the Military narrative has lesser traction. Its appeal is a curious mix of Pashtun ethno-nationalism (with more focus on tribalism), criticism of the endemic violence in Pashtun areas and their suffering in the duel between the LEAs and anti-state militants especially the TTP. It has publicly if incorrectly blamed Miltablishment for fostering violence and its consequences. And it considers solutions under Pashtunwali and tribal customs sufficient to combat and eradicate militancy. There was showing of Afghan flags in the recent congregation. However, to keep the record straight, there is no empirical appetite in any part of KP/Balochistan to join Afghanistan under the bogey of Pashtunistan. And politically speaking, PTM veering off-track now and then is considered due to its raw youthful emotionalism, lack of comprehensive understanding of the complexity of the situation, and desire of its leadership to stay relevant.

Surprisingly, the whole of Pashtun Qaumi Jirga is unpreceded. KP politics, as of now, is dominated by Southern Districts, without requisite political representation from the Northern Districts…a conscience aberration. Holding PTM Jirga predominantly under the Southern tribes, with not very robust representation from the Northern Districts, has long-term implications to maintain support for the process.

We will discuss and analyse the Jirga demands next week!