Pakistan Politics: Why are many Pashtuns turning against Islamabad?

Haroon Janjua

Thousands of protesters in Pakistan's northwestern Bannu area held a demonstration last week to demand an end to military operations in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan. The peaceful rally turned violent after a gunfire triggered a stampede. Two people were killed and dozens were injured as a result. The rally organizers condemned the use of violence against the protesters.

"We are protesting against state atrocities, removal of landmines, recovery of missing persons, and for a claim on our [regional] natural resources. We also seek accountability for the military operations in our areas," Idrees Pashteen, an activist belonging to the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), told DW.

Rights groups criticized authorities for their alleged use of violence to break up the march, with Amnesty International saying that the "use of lethal force at a peaceful rally advocating for peace is unlawful." The rights watchdog demanded a prompt investigation to "hold to account officials responsible for the attack." Security officials have denied firing at the protesters.

At the heart of these demonstrations is the PTM, an Pashtun rights movement, and anti-war group, which has gained considerable strength in the past seven or eight years, and has drawn tens of thousands of people to its protest rallies. Its supporters are critical of wars, which they say have ravaged the Pashtun-majority areas in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The PTM demands an end to extrajudicial killings and arbitrary detentions of Pashtuns in the name of war against militants. Earlier this month, Islamabad launched a new military operation aimed at stamping out militancy and tackling a surge in armed violence. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government named the new operation "Azm-e-Istehkam," meaning Resolve for Stability in Urdu. It is the latest in a series of operations that Pakistan's military has launched against militant groups. But another military operation in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province risks authorities upsetting the locals.

Pakistan has witnessed a dramatic increase in violent attacks over the past two years. The attacks have claimed the lives of at least 62 soldiers, including two officers, so far this year. The military said it killed 249 and arrested 396 terrorists in more than 13,000 intelligence-based operations.

Most of these attacks are claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan — an umbrella group of Islamist militant outfits known by the acronym TTP — which has been waging a war against the state to try to overthrow the government. The TTP wants to run Pakistan as an Islamic state governed by its own harsh interpretation of Islam.

The group is ideologically aligned with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021, as US and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war. The mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has long been a hive of Islamist militant groups, including the TPP and the local chapter of the "Islamic State" group.

Pakistan's civilian government and the military leadership believe that rooting out the TTP-led militancy is the need of the hour. Those who live in the areas along the border with Afghanistan fear that another full-scale military operation will result in mass displacement and deaths. Afrasiab Khattak, a former senator, told DW that Pashtuns know that the military operations have only brought "death, destruction and displacement" to their region. PTM supporters blame both the Pakistani military and Islamists for this.

"The Taliban have no place in our area, and there should be no violence," the PTM's Pashteen said. Khattak says there have been widespread protests and demonstrations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province against both Islamists and the militarization of the region by Pakistan's military generals. Analysts say Pashtuns have a "structural disagreement" with the Pakistani state for its Afghanistan policy.

"Pakistan first supported militants [in the 1980s] and then targeted them [after 9/11] in the border region with Afghanistan," Qamar Cheema, an Islamabad-based analyst, told DW, adding that all of this has resulted in mayhem and tribulation. Pashtun activists say that Prime Minister Sharif's government has not done anything to address their demands.

While there is scant coverage of anti-war rallies in the mainstream Pakistani media, the lawmakers' inaction on the issue is also strengthening the idea that Pashtuns have been left on their own. "The parliament is silent, and the issue of mistrust has not been addressed at the national level," Cheema said.

Pakistan's jailed former prime minister, Imran Khan, said last week that he opposed any new military operation in the northwestern and southwestern parts of the country and directed his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which currently governs the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, to stand against it. But Khan's party itself is facing a government crackdown and is unable to play a crucial role on this issue.