News Desk |
The erstwhile Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and its people have been at the forefront of over a decade-long war against terrorism.
Prime Minister Imran Khan before coming to power was for long criticised for advocating addressing the situation in the region through dialogue. Before the last general elections, he endorsed many demands of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), a relatively small movement with not a very long history of political struggle.
“I will meet army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and discuss with him easing security check posts and removing landmines, besides the core issue of missing persons of the Federally Administered Tribal Area,” Imran Khan had said.
The PTM though claims to champion Pashtun rights; its leadership has come under criticism for its apparent failure to condemn the atrocities committed against the Pashtuns in Afghanistan, at the hand of Afghan and foreign security forces.
During the last general elections, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) did not contest elections against the PTM leader and now member National Assembly Ali Wazir. Moreover, last December, the prime minister came to the rescue of the two PTM leaders, Ali Wazir, and Mohsin Dawar, when he ordered lifting travel restrictions on them.
Living up to our commitment. A 3-week consultative process on 10 yr Dev Plan for former FATA is being initiated, starting from Bajaur. Our ppl in the tribal area will see unprecedented development as Govt plans to spend over Rs100 billion annually for 10 yrs in tribal districts
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 18, 2019
On March 17, Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted, “Living up to our commitment. A 3-week consultative process on 10 yr Dev Plan for former FATA is being initiated, starting from Bajaur. Our ppl in the tribal area will see unprecedented development as Govt plans to spend over Rs100 billion annually for 10 yrs in tribal districts.”
Read more: The Constitutional Matrix of FATA
After this announcement that was largely appreciated over the social media, it was expected that at least the top leadership of the PTM, Ali Wazir, Mohsin Dawar and Manzoor Pashteen who are usually quick to condemn and criticise, would at least announce on the part of their movement to join in, in this federal government initiative to rebuild the war-torn region, but there has been a deafening silence.
Almost over 40 hours since the PM’s tweet, there has not been a single social media response from at least the three top PTM leaders.
The PTM though claims to champion Pashtun rights; its leadership has come under criticism for its apparent failure to condemn the atrocities committed against the Pashtuns in Afghanistan, at the hand of Afghan and foreign security forces.
Read more: FATA-KP merger marks historic day for people of FATA
Interestingly, though the movement gathers its support from individuals who identify themselves as liberals and progressives, it appears to have a narrow focus that manifests itself in the movement’s ethnocentric name.