In a clear display of this intensifying repression, PTM workers in Karachi’s Sultanabad were fired upon on Friday during a meeting in preparation for the upcoming October 11 Jirga—a national gathering aimed at exposing the Pak Army’s atrocities. Several PTM activists were arrested during the violent raid, orchestrated by ISI operative and Karachi Police SHO Ghulam Hussain.
Such actions reflect the Punjabi Pak Army’s increasing desperation to crush the movement, which has emerged as the strongest voice against the Army’s systemic abuses. PTM has consistently called for an end to the occupied-state’s relentless brutality, which includes shelling, abductions, extrajudicial killings, and staged encounters in Pashtun areas. This oppressive grip dates back to the 1947 forceful occupation of the Khyber region, during which the Pak Army has subjected the Pashtun people to unimaginable violence, exploitation, and discrimination.
The hysterical response from the Paki establishment underscores the fact that the PTM’s peaceful struggle is hitting a nerve. Manzoor Pashteen’s leadership has galvanized a movement that dares to challenge the very foundations of the Punjabi-Pak military’s stranglehold on ethnic minorities. Instead of addressing these long-standing grievances, the brutal-occupied-state has chosen to eliminate the movement’s leadership, hoping to stamp out dissent by any means necessary.