In a brazen attempt to stifle dissent, the Loralai police, under orders to appease the Cantonment Commandant, have registered FIRs against leaders of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), members of PTM Loralai, and leaders of various political parties. This follows peaceful invitation meetings for the Pashtun National Court (jirga) organized by PTM’s Loralai chapter for October 11. The crackdown, however, only further exposes the desperate and brutal tactics employed by the Punjabi-Pakistan Army to silence Pashtun voices.
The PTM’s campaign against the Pakistan Army’s heavy-handed and often brutal tactics has intensified in recent months. Just two days prior, a powerful public demonstration was held in Khyber Bara Bazar, where citizens rallied against the Pak military-sponsored terrorism that has plagued the region. This shows that the Army’s stranglehold over Pashtun territories, under the false pretense of “security,” is coming to an end. The real terrorists are the Army and the very militants they once bred, who have now turned against them and are wreaking havoc in the region.
Since the military’s occupation of the Khyber region in 1947, Pashtuns have faced relentless violence, exploitation, and discrimination. The Army’s tactics, including indiscriminate shelling, abductions, extrajudicial killings, and staged encounters, have made the region unstable.
Adding to the horrors, the Pak military’s cruel practice of laying landmines in residential areas has resulted in countless tragic accidents. Children, often playing near their homes, have been maimed or killed by these hidden explosives.
The PTM’s upcoming national gathering on October 11 is expected to be a major platform for raising awareness about these human rights abuses. While the military tightens its grip ahead of the upcoming jirga, it is clear that their efforts to crush the Pashtun uprising will not succeed. The Pashtun people have awakened to the brutal reality of the Punjabi Pak Army’s exploitation and violence, and no amount of repression will extinguish their demand for justice and freedom.