A large number of Pashtuns in various districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Swat, Buner, Bajaur, South Waziristan and Bannu have come out in large numbers to organize public rallies against the new wave of terrorism and the deteriorating security situation in their areas. They stand against the reemergence and regrouping of the Taliban and are demanding peace.
Almost all of these public rallies and protests have been organized by local activists. Most of the speeches in these protests have been critical of the state’s policy of engaging in talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that were taking place until recently, and the way in which the TTP has been allowed to return to spread terror.
What is significant about these public gatherings is that it is the locals, the ordinary people, who have been organizing them. The mainstream political parties have yet to catch up with the sentiments of our people who are not willing to allow our lands to be used for what we fear is the beginning of a new great game in the region, especially after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021. The statements of several federal ministers with regards to the increasing terrorist attacks in Pakhtunkhwa and the offer of support from US officials to Pakistan to counter the growing threat of terrorism are reminiscent of the situation caused by terrorism in the mid-2000s that resulted in military operations in the then ex-FATA and Swat. It led to the displacement of thousands of our people, with their homes and lives devastated.
While Pashtun nationalist parties and their leaders have been participating in these protests, leaders of the mainstream political parties who are leading the federal government are yet to acknowledge these protests and our demands for peace. Similarly, the mainstream media has also not given any coverage to these protests. Pashtun activists have relied on social media to not only cover the massive gatherings but to also spread the messages of resistance against the Taliban and the demands for peace that emanate from these protests.
The resurgence of terrorism in Pakhtunkhwa is directly linked to the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. Those in Pakistan, including government functionaries and officials of the state, who make poor attempts to distinguish between the TTP and the Taliban in Afghanistan, are not fooling anyone. The TTP functions and operates as an extension of the Taliban in Afghanistan. One of the first things that the Taliban did in Afghanistan after their takeover was to release all of the TTP’s prisoners who had been arrested by the previous governments of President Ashraf Ghani and President Hamid Karzai.
Pakistan’s strategic depth policy for Afghanistan has not been abandoned and appears to be in full effect. Pakistan will need to abandon its support for the Taliban in Afghanistan for it to effectively deal with the menace of TTP. The Taliban in Afghanistan and the TTP are not political entities. They are an armed group of militants who perpetrate violence. We cannot afford to be confused about them.
At some point, the mainstream in Pakistan will not only need to acknowledge the protests against Taliban and terrorism in Pakhtunkhwa but will also need to heed the very important messages being delivered in these protests for establishing peace in our region. The violence that we are experiencing in our districts will not remain limited to Pakhtunkhwa. This fire will spread to the entire country. The state needs to correct its course before it is too late.
The writer is a member of the National Democratic Movement (NDM).
I agree to most of what has been said above, except for absolving “Ashraf Ghani” from all the blame, when comes to setting Taliban Free. During the last elections when he was chosen as president of Afghanistan, he set thousands of Talibans free from the jails, only to buy the support of US and Pakistan in sustaining his government.