In another display of Pak Army’s authoritarian grip over its tribal regions, police in Orakzai district registered an FIR against Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Manzoor Pashteen, along with other organizers of a peaceful gathering aimed at rallying support for the upcoming Pashtun Grand Jirga on October 11. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police, operating in the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), have once again shown themselves to be mere tools of the unaccountable Pak Army establishment, acting on orders to silence any dissent in the region.

Manzoor Pashteen has emerged as a leader the Paki establishment never anticipated, one who has become a powerful voice for the long-suffering Pashtun community. His calls for Pashtun unity have resonated across KP, where the population has endured decades of exploitation and atrocities at the hands of the Punjabi-Pak military.

Despite the peaceful nature of their protests, Pashtun activists continue to face persecution. Even transport workers in KP have been arrested in recent days. The arrests are part of a larger effort to stifle the growing Pashtun movement.

Pashtuns in KP have reached their breaking point. Tired of the Punjabi elite’s disregard for their lives and livelihoods, the Pashtun people are taking matters into their own hands, demanding accountability for decades of exploitation. The PTM’s national gathering on October 11 will serve as a crucial platform to raise awareness about the human rights violations they have endured and to call for international attention to their plight.

Since the occupation of the Khyber region in 1947, the Punjabi Pak Army has waged a campaign of relentless violence against the Pashtun people. Under the guise of counter-terrorism operations, the Army has engaged in indiscriminate shelling of villages, extrajudicial killings, abductions, and staged encounters, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. The military has used the region as a battleground for its own interests, treating its inhabitants as collateral damage.

In a tragic incident, six security forces personnel were killed and eleven others injured in a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist attack on a security check post in the Mishta village of Ladha tehsil, South Waziristan, during the night of Thursday and Friday.

The attack occurred as terrorists targeted the check post, leading to significant casualties among security forces. Reportedly, a clearance operation is currently underway to neutralize the threat posed by the attackers. This incident is part of a troubling trend, as the TTP has increasingly targeted security personnel, raising alarm over the deteriorating security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The occupied-govt has long accused the TTP of operating from sanctuaries within Afghanistan, a claim that has been repeatedly denied by the Afghan Taliban. The rise in terrorist incidents since the Taliban takeover in Kabul in 2021 has dashed hopes in Islamabad for a collaborative approach to countering militancy. Instead, relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have soured, primarily due to the TTP’s activities and frequent border skirmishes.

The TTP, established in 2007 as a coalition of various militant groups, has been officially labeled “Fitna al-Khawarij” by the Pakistan, referencing a historical group known for violence. The attack on the security check post comes amidst a backdrop of increasing terror-related fatalities and injuries, with four of the injured personnel reported to be in critical condition.

Despite the growing violence of the TTP, the Punjabi Pak military’s focus has been more on silencing human rights activists who criticize its operations, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. The Pak Army’s long-standing policies of nurturing and allowing the proliferation of extremist groups have come back to haunt them. The very terrorists they once fostered are now launching devastating attacks against the military itself.

Amidst the TTP attack and the retaliation of the Punjabi Pak Army, it is the Pashtuns who are caught in the middle. The repeated attacks, shelling, and landmines have killed and maimed children, but have never targeted the actual terrorists.

In a shocking incident that marks one of the darkest days in Sindh’s history, Dr. Shahnawaz Kumbhar, a physician accused of blasphemy, was killed while in police custody in Mirpurkhas. Contrary to the narrative that an enraged mob was responsible for his death, it has become clear that the Sindh Police orchestrated this tragedy, allowing a mob to burn his body afterwards.

In an alarming display of religious bigotry, the Sindh Police were celebrated by some community members, with flowers thrown at officers, including a grade 20 Deputy Inspector General (DIG). This grotesque celebration of violence reveals a deep-seated culture of impunity and complicity within the police force, the enforcers of a draconian agenda.

Dr. Kumbhar was accused of blasphemy over a social media post—a dangerous and increasingly common trend in Pakistan that is exploited to justify violence and extrajudicial killings.

Despite Dr. Kumbhar’s video clarification that his old social media account was no longer in use, he was tracked down, and his family members were reportedly detained to force his surrender. The heinous act reflects the disturbing reality in Islamic Republic. This incident bears the hallmark of the Pak military’s deep-rooted influence in such extrajudicial actions, using the police as pawns in their campaign of control and fear.

The World Sindhi Congress has strongly condemned this act, calling for an independent, international investigation into Dr. Kumbhar’s killing. The group’s demand underscores the reality that the Pak authorities, influenced by military power, cannot be trusted to impartially investigate the case.

The murder of Dr. Kumbhar, executed under the pretext of blasphemy, is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of persecution targeting minority communities in Pakistan. The Paki establishment exploits blasphemy allegations as a weapon to suppress minorities and justify violence against them. While minority groups face severe repercussions, those within the establishment turn a blind eye to the rampant desecration of mosques, Qurans and religious sanctity committed by their own goons and extremist elements.