Instead of banning the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, engage it

Pakistan’s Federal Government in its latest notification has banned the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), labeling it as a “proscribed organization” that poses a threat to the peace and security of the country.

This is utterly ridiculous and against the standards of basic human rights. Blaming a peaceful movement and smearing it with the dirt of Pakistan’s failure to ensure security and peace is ironical. The movement has never been involved in any unlawful activity that might threaten Pakistan’s fragile security. Banning the PTM simply adds to Pashtun grievances against the state of Pakistan.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Police’s recent firing on the Camp of Pashtun Qami Adalat / Pashtun National Jirga, convened by the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement in Khyber district, killed three people and seriously injured more than a dozen. It blatantly accentuates a disturbing practice of persecuting peaceful rights activists in the country.

The outrageous encroachment on Jirga – which is emblematic of Pashtunwali, the Pashtun people’s code of honor, values, and customs – and on the community’s long-practiced tradition of collective deliberation has provoked further denunciation from among the Pashtun rights activists as well as the political leadership.

The police raid on Pashtun Jirga Camps unveils the significant disconnection between the state authorities and the Pashtun community. Misuse of state might against dissidents underscores dictatorship and a blatant violation of democratic principles.

In a state where government is grappling with a deteriorated economy, political instability, rampant insecurity and Baloch militancy, suppressing the PTM will add more to chaos and failure.

Led by university graduate Manzoor Pashteen, the