Pakistan is facing the wrath  of its own misdeeds when it comes to the damages inflicted by the terrorist organization Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). At the western front, Pakistan is witnessing a significant rise in terrorist attacks by TTP which ranges from small standoffs and shelling on Pakistan Army to capturing villages and an attack on Airforce base in Mianwali. Point being, the intensity of attacks is constantly on the rise raising serious questions on self-proclaimed number one army.

In the latest development, Pakistan Army has suffered a huge loss of 21 personnel in multiple attacks by TTP in just couple of days. The attacks started since the night of January 9^th  in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province with the most dangerous attack in Lakki Marwat area, Bannu yesterday.

In an ambush attack on the Pakistan Army convoy at Mianwali Road in Lakki Marwat, 12 personnel died while many were left injured, as claimed by TTP. In the statement issued by TTP, its spokesman Muhammad Khurasani stated that soon after the attack 2 helicopters and 5 ambulances were rushed to the site.

Khurasani claimed that the number of casualties may be even more. According to him, TTP also engaged in a direct firing with the personnel of Pakistan Army in which two of its terrorists, named Aftab alias Maling and Ehsanullah alias Ahmed got killed.   

More TTP attacks

Talking about the attack a night before, Khurasani stated that TTP terrorists barged into a Police check post near Laki Toll Plaza at Kohat-Indus Highway in Kohat district and killed 5 police personnel. The ruthlessness of the terrorist didn’t stop there, later, they also attacked a police vehicle that approached the attacked site that resulted into the potential killing of three more police men.

TTP also looted the weaponry from the deceased police men. On the same night, TTP also attacked a police post in Mandan Torkala area of ​​Bannu district, killing 4 police personnel, including an ASI. Apart from the killings 3 police men were brutally injured. Furthermore, in the ensued gunfight, 2 terrorists were also slain.

Since past year, TTP has emerged as a consequential terrorist organization, which has ruptured the Pak Army façade of security at the wester front. The interplay of Pak Army and TTP, which had earlier, devastated the local Pashtun population in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has now become a havoc for the same Pak Army. The terrorists, whom they harboured and provided with the combat prowess, are now using the same against them. However, even more disappointing is the fact that Pakistan Army still employes terrorism as a key instrument in its policy for regional instability. Also, it does not refrain from employing coercive measures against its own people who raise this issue for the betterment of Pakistan. This makes it evident that Pakistan is trapped in a sphere of violence that could eventually end up ceasing its own existence.

The arrest of Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen, a prominent figure and leader of the Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM), has sparked widespread concern among international observers and human rights advocates. PTM Europe has reached out to UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, Volker Turk against the enforced disappearance of their chief Manzoor Pashteen by the Pakistan Army and ISI. Pashteen’s Enforced Disappearance by ISI and Police personnel, immediately following his release on bail from Adiala Prison in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, has drawn attention to alleged human rights violations.

Despite confirmation, through a writ, from the Ministry of Interior that Pashteen was not sought by Punjab Province Police, his abduction is deemed a clear violation of constitutional rights, international law, and the UN Charter. This incident unfolds against a backdrop of previous events, including an attempted assassination on December 4, 2023, when Pakistan Army fired at Pashteen’s car near Chaman Press Club. Subsequently, he was unlawfully arrested in a joint ISI-Police operation in Chaman district of occupied Balochistan, allegedly to prevent his participation in a human rights sit-in at Turbat District, Balochistan.

Reports have emerged detailing Pashteen’s alleged mistreatment and torture while in police custody for a month, highlighting concerns about his safety after his recent disappearance for the past four days. Pashteen’s PTM, advocating for Pashtun rights, has faced persistent crackdowns in Pakistan.

Previous attacks on PTM and Pashtuns

Incidents such as the ransacking of PTM offices in Islamabad following a protest rally in August 2023 and the raid on PTM’s office in Peshawar in January 2020 have fueled tensions.

Previously, Pashteen has been a target of threats and violence, including direct fire from a Pakistan Army colonel in February 2019, raising concerns about the establishment’s handling of dissenting voices and human rights defenders.

The PTM Europe has urgently appealed to the United Nations, global civilized nations, and international human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to intervene, urging Pakistan to release Pashteen immediately and cease harassment, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and other alleged violations against PTM activists.

This application to the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva signifies escalating international concerns over Pakistan’s handling of dissent and human rights issues, particularly in Pashtun territories, emphasizing the need for immediate attention to safeguard fundamental rights and protect activists like Manzoor Pashteen.

Hindus are being coercively converted to Islam in Pakistan at a faster pace, in a pursuit of Islamising the entire populace. In an attempt of that, 14 members of a Hindu family have been converted at a single event in Sindh’s Daharki. The entire family including the children were converted by the infamous Mian Javed Ahmad Qadri of Bharchundi dargah. Qadri is notoriously involved in the conversion of Hindu population in and around Daharki.

In the territories controlled by Pakistan, Sindh has the biggest population of Hindus. And hence, it is unfortunate that Sindh is the only region which witnesses the most frequent cases of forced Hindu conversion. The biggest facilitators of these illicit and inhumane conversions are people like Qadri who at the behest of religion organise the most unsacred façade. Apart from Javed Ahmad Qadri, Pir Ayub Jan Farooqi aka Pir Ayub Jan Sirhandi is also a radical bigot who has vowed to convert all the Hindus in the most populous Hindu districts Umarkot (Amarkot) and Tharparkar, the region where he operates.

Simply put, these hate mongers who disguise themselves as Maulanas or Pirs are on a zealotry where they want an ethnic cleansing of all other minorities. However, these Maulanas are not the only ones to be blamed as their ideas and bigotry gets approval from a political entity that calls itself a ‘state.’

Precarious condition of Hindus in a zealot political system

Whether it is judicial system, the administration or the political system, these bigots get a refuge for doing such coward acts of forced conversion. In most of the cases even the FIR are not registered. The minor girls who get abducted are proved as adult on the basis of the forged document and the legal system enjoys being ignorant. This is all happening not because of any lawlessness but a validation of an ideology by the political system that Islam is the only truth and mere existence of any other religion is anti-Islam and that there is no harm in purge of any other religion.  The biggest example of this is the selection of a candidate to the post of caretaker PM who has in the past gavin the statement that could strengthen the courage of these criminals.

It must be remembered that the caretaker PM of Pakistan, Anwar-ul-haq Kakkar wrote a fanatic tweet back in 2020 which says, “We are waiting all Hindus to be persuaded to the enlighten truth of Islam will wait for a millennium no hurry.” The statement itself speaks that the most liberal idea of Pakistan’s political system is to provide a time period for the end of pluralistic society.

So, it must never be thought that at any point of time in future, this precarious situation of Hindus can get any better in Pakistan unless strict measures are taken by the international organisations. The international community and specially those working in the domain of human rights need to address this worsening condition of Hindus and other minorities in Pakistan, but at first they would have to have faith in a fact that Pakistan is no state and is just an entity which is blinded by the religious hatred.    

PTM holds a massive protest and long march to Wana, South Waziristan for the release of its leader Manzoor Pashteen and other activists.

Manzoor Pashteen’s arrest and continuous manipulation of legal procedures to keep him captivated has come under strong criticism form the Pashtuns. Wana protest was attended by a large number of people who raised their unified voice against the oppression of the Pakistan Army. Wana protest and march was pre-announced, however, after Manzoor Pashteen was rearrested following his release from the Adiala prison, the participation and agitation augmented to a new level. Furious protestors from across Waziristan and nearby regions reached the protest site and voiced their concerns. The site of protest saw such a huge influx that people stood at the top of the buildings to hear the leaders addressing the gathering.

Interestingly, with the arrest of Manzoor Pashteen, it has become clear to the masses that they can only survive in Pakistan if they follow the dictats of Pakistan Army. In the case of protesting or peacefully opposing the establishment, the citizens would be treated akin to the terrorists.

Notably, Manzoor Pashteen has been arrested for the third time in just one month. After he was arrested on December 3, while embarking to Turbat, he was granted bail and was rearrested by Islamabad police. And now when he got bail in those cases, he has again been arrested by the Punjab Police at the gates of Adiala prison. The absolute suspension of human rights and exploitation of legal machinery has infuriated the oppressed Pashtuns. Impunity in Pakistan Army’s action has made it evident that those who challenge their authoritarian regime are rendered helpless and are in fact tortured with the same instrument that would save them, the law.