PTM BATTLES PAK REPRESSION AS IT FIGHTS FOR PASHTUN AND BALOCH RIGHTS

Levsa Bayankhail, the Denmark-based secretary general of PTM, speaks to The Sunday Guardian.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

The phenomenon that Baloch and Pashtuns of Pakistan have been treated as “second class citizens” for decades, is now widely accepted at a global level even as people belonging to these groups have been “picked up” by unidentified gunmen and have never seen again.

These state-backed atrocities, which have gained worldwide notoriety, have led to the birth of voices of resistance, who are speaking up against the Pakistan army, which has been accused of carrying out these murders. One of the most prominent of them has been the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM).

Levsa Bayankhail, the Denmark-based secretary general of PTM, which came into existence in 2014 to protest the extra-judicial killings happening in Pakistan, spoke to The Sunday Guardian on the challenges that they are facing and what the world needs to do to save the Pashtuns and the Baloch. Edited excerpts: Q: It has been five years since the PTM movement started, what has it achieved till now? Rao Anwar, the police officer, who killed so many Pashtuns, was never punished. A: Before PTM nobody could ever dare to challenge the powerful Pakistani army and ISI in Pakistan or call them out for their widespread abuses, crimes and terror activities in the Pashtun belt and in Afghanistan. Most importantly, the movement has developed a sense of solidarity and courage to express their grievances through non-violent means, despite harsh government repression and terror for decades.

PTM has built a huge support from ordinary people around the world, on the ground and on social media, particularly the ethnic Pashtuns and Baloch people. Because they have experienced state atrocities first hand.