In a compelling address to the United Nations, Fazlur Rehman Afridi, the head of the legal committee of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) Europe, highlighted how the Pashtuns face discrimination and egregious human rights violations in Pakistan. Afridi’s impassioned plea shed light on the alarming state of affairs faced by Pashtuns, who have been marginalized and subjected to grave injustices with impunity.

The speech underscored the prevailing atmosphere of impunity and disregard for the rule of law, which has relegated Pashtuns to second-class citizenship. Afridi emphasized the disturbing trend of profiling Pashtuns as terrorists, a stigma that has often served as a pretext for excessive use of force by Pakistani authorities.

Pashtuns face discrimination, abductions and enforced disappearances

Among the harrowing incidents cited by Afridi were cases of abduction and enforced disappearance of school-going children as young as 11 years old in Khyber Agency, Pakhtunkhwa. He condemned the abduction of 12 children without due process of law, highlighting the trauma inflicted upon innocent youth at the hands of security forces.

Furthermore, Afridi highlighted the plight of prominent PTM activists, Eidul Rehman, Zakim Wazir, and Gilaman Wazir, who were forcibly disappeared on May 31 2023 and subjected to extreme torture while in custody. The speaker also brought attention to the tragic loss of Pashtun lives due to indiscriminate actions by the Pakistani military, including the killing of four children and one woman in mortar shelling in Shiktoi, South Waziristan on September 6, 2023.

Instances of violence against Pashtun women, including the injury of eight women in South Waziristan due to indiscriminate firing by the Pakistani army, further underscored the urgent need for international intervention. Afridi mentioned the brutal firing over the peacefull protesting former MNA Mohsin Dawar on February 10, 2024. He said, “Former MNA Mohsin Dawar along with 14 of his party members injured and 4 others killed when Pak military fired straight bullet on them. Dawar was protesting peacefully against election rigging in his constituency.”

At last, Afridi culminated his speech with a plea for UN intervention to address the pressing issues facing the Pashtun ethnic minority in Pakistan. Afridi urged the UN to take decisive action to hold the Pakistani government accountable for its violations of human rights and ensure justice for the marginalized Pashtun community.

In a significant development, six senior judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in Pakistan have made startling accusations against the country’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. According to a letter dated March 25, which was made public on Tuesday, the judges have alleged interference in judicial matters by the ISI, including intimidation tactics such as secret surveillance, abduction, and torture of their family members.

The judges have called upon the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), Pakistan’s judicial watchdog, to investigate these serious allegations. They emphasize the need to determine whether there exists a systematic policy implemented by intelligence operatives to coerce judges into engineering judicial outcomes in politically significant cases.

The letter, which has sparked widespread concern, particularly relates to cases involving the main opposition leader and former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has accused the military of orchestrating a crackdown on the party ahead of last month’s general elections. The alleged interference in the election process has raised questions about the military’s role in Pakistani politics.

Notably, the allegations come on the heels of a recent Supreme Court ruling declaring the removal of former IHC judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui in 2018 as illegal. Siddiqui had previously accused the ISI chief and other military officials of manipulating judicial decisions, sparking a contentious legal battle.

After the shocking revelation, the interference of Pakistan Army and ISI in Pakistan’s politics and judicial process has become profoundly clear. Interestingly, the onus now rests on Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa to address the concerns raised by the judges and take decisive action to protect the independence of the judiciary. The ISI and Pakistan military have not yet responded to the allegations, raising anticipation for their forthcoming statements on the matter.

The Islamic State Pakistan Province (ISPP), through its media arm Nashir, has issued a stark warning to several countries in a recent threat image publication. This move comes amidst growing tensions and ongoing security concerns surrounding the activities of the terrorist organization. The IS Pakistan threat image, titled “Who is next?” prominently features the names of four nations: the United States, Denmark, China and India.

Although, issuing threat remains the default characteristic of any terrorist organisation it increases their visibility and centrality in talks under the global security architecture. In fact it is the basis of their relevance. But the recent threat can not be ignored, specially considering the recent chaotic terrorist attack in Russia and an attack on Chinese nationals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The series of incidents highlight that US, India, China are at the potential risk. The recent attack in Russia is the largest in past decades. The attack at Crocus Consert hall in Moscow suburbs took lives of over 130 people. Soon after the attack ISIS-K took the responsibility of the deadly masacre.

Talking about India, it has recently nabbed the head of ISIS India from the North eastern state of Assam. With due consideration, it is suffice to say that India has launched an effective crackdown on the terror modules active across the country to which ISIS is no exception.

Apart from that, ISKP has recently released a Pashto magazine titled “Khorasan Ghag”, accusing the Afghan Taliban of normalising relations with India, which it considers against the Islam-based terror conduct.

While US has been an archrival and a permanent entity on the hit list, Denmark’s historic resistance against the terror group has made it a potent target for ISIS.

China and ISIS

The fourth country mentioned in the threat image is China. Now China has been largely unaffected by the Islamic terrorism when it comes to the home, however, it has definitely been at the receiving end in various parts of the Asia.

After the TTP denied it’s involvement in the recent attack on Chinese engineers’ vehicle in Basham area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, that left 5 of them killed along with one other, there are strong suspicion that ISIS Pakistan province of ISIS-K must have been behind the attacks.

Also, this is not the first time that such an attack has been orchestrated by ISIS. 2017, ISIS-Kidnapped and killed two Chinese nationals within Pakistani territory. Additionally, Chinese nationals were subjected to a targeted attack in Kabul just last year.

The bone of contention between ISIS and China is still not determined. But considering the growing stature of China on the global scale with a strong military might and expansive influence across continents, a group of terrorist would need no moral ground to pose resistance, besides, the ISIS may use the persecution of Uyghur Muslims as it’s basis of friction.

So, threat looms large over the world and frequent attacks could give ISIS a revival through the Khorasan module, which was so far active in fragile security climate of Afghanistan, Pakistan only.