Pashtun Spring

Pakistan: 7 Socialist Activists Abducted by Army After Attending PTM Rally in Karachi

7 youth and trade union activists have been abducted by the army and Sindh Rangers after participating in rally in support of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) outside the Karachi Press Club on Sunday.  They were picked up immediately following the demonstration in Karachi, which had been called to express solidarity with a PTM rally in Lahore that was held[Read More...]

A Pashtun Spring?

  Manzoor Pashteen swears by his commitment and dedication to the cause of Pashtuns who continue to be the victims of an endless war. In the CIA-instigated Afghan Jihad, they had a massive image makeover: from the British colonialists’ categorisation as uncivilised brutes they became celebrated warriors wedded to a holy cause fighting the Communist Russia. Even the Hollywood, that[Read More...]

The Appropriation of Pashtun Rights Movement

Historically speaking, from the massacres in Bangladesh in 1971 to the training and arming of Afghan jihadists during the Soviet-Afghan war throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and then launching ill-conceived military operations in Pakistan’s tribal areas under American pressure, leading to the displacement of millions of Pashtun tribesmen, the single biggest issue in Pakistan has been the interference of army[Read More...]

Pakistan: Missing persons issue swept under rug as Pashtun anti-war movement spreads

The head of the commission on missing persons, Justice (r) Javed Iqbal, significantly downplayed the role of the country’s military and intelligence agencies in “enforced disappearances” of Pashtun and Baloch people while briefing the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Human Rights on Monday. Iqbal’s attempt to absolve Pakistan’s military-intelligence apparatus of its responsibility for missing persons was made against the[Read More...]