Abstrict

Social movements emerge in all parts of the world due to feelings of discrimination, oppression, and exploitation by any dominated or powerful group. These movements are directed, purposeful, dimensional and sometimes spontaneous towards achieving the social, political and economic cause[s]. Pashtun Protection Movement emerged from miseries, atrocities, humiliation on the hands of combating groups, unnecessary checking at security check posts, bloodshed spreading in the area during sixteen years of militancy, and security operations in North and South Waziristan. The movement is both present physically on the ground and as well in cyberspace in the form of a social media campaign.  Methodologically, the research was designed to collect data from extensive fieldwork during the protest movement organized under the title of Pashtun Protection Movement across the country. Data was enriched through participant observation, and analysis was done through content analysis via poetic expression in Pashtu and other movement legacies.

Abstrict

Social movements emerge in all parts of the world due to feelings of discrimination, oppression, and exploitation by any dominated or powerful group. These movements are directed, purposeful, dimensional and sometimes spontaneous towards achieving the social, political and economic cause[s]. Pashtun Protection Movement emerged from miseries, atrocities, humiliation on the hands of combating groups, unnecessary checking at security check posts, bloodshed spreading in the area during sixteen years of militancy, and security operations in North and South Waziristan. The movement is both present physically on the ground and as well in cyberspace in the form of a social media campaign.  Methodologically, the research was designed to collect data from extensive fieldwork during the protest movement organized under the title of Pashtun Protection Movement across the country. Data was enriched through participant observation, and analysis was done through content analysis via poetic expression in Pashtu and other movement legacies.

Keywords

Social Movement, Conflict, Terrorism, Jirga.

Introduction

Pashtun is an ethnic group that has been studied for a long time by a different type of intellectuals and social scientists when they confronted and interacted with them. Politically Pashtun society is constructed and codified as acephalous by these intellectuals, and it falls in the criterion of acephalous societies; a society which has no hierarchy indigenously and because of this nature of being headless, there are strong bonds of family relationships and family traditions (Lindholim & Embree, 1979), but with the passage of time and state intervention, Pashtun society was and is being transformed to establish hierarchy socially, but the hierarchy developed by the state has not taken roots in the social structure to allow the large population to accept the authority of one person and submit their willingness to entrust authority in their headsman on the village level. These family relations and bonds are traced back to clan, subtribe and finally head of the tribe. Overall, there is no authority over the tribe to unite them under one person, but the authority is distributed on the egalitarian level among the people (Duncan, 1989). In Waziristan, there are three pillars of authority over the population. The first and foremost authority on the village level is Malak. Malak gets privileges from the state of Pakistan as an assistant to the political agent. These power and prestige run the code of tarborwali (agnatic rivalry), through which every tribesman tries to compete in every situation ahead of the co-tribesman. The code of Tarborwali is an essential part of Pashtunwali (ideal code of Pashtunwali), where a Pashtun is confined to the expectation of the society to act. The second authority is sometimes exploited by Mullah (clergy) where he leads the daily prayers at the mosque, and he is not considered as an agnatic rival in Pashtunwali, but in the history of South Waziristan, Mullahs played a very pivot role in combating different forces and modernity. Most of the religious clergy belongs to the Naqshbandi tree of Sufi traditions in Afghanistan and Pashtun populated areas, especially Waziristan  (Frembgen, 2009). 

The third authority in the area is a political agent, who is appointed by the state of Pakistan to run the affairs of any agency. There is nexus of these three authorities in the area. Malak and political agents are part and parcel of each other, where justice, negotiations and development works are approved by political agent and carried out these projects by officially appointed Malaks in the area. This Malaki system remains in the family, and it was transformed and moulded into inherited inheritance. With the passage of time, the authority of Malak and religious clergy is challenged by youth (kashar) who is always found of getting and receiving facilities, education and presentation of the people on every forum. This means that there is a transition in a society where the authority of the mashar (Malak) is questioned (Ahmed, 2013).  When the war on terror was started, the military and Taliban targeted all those malaks and political and social activist who opposed the alleged mobilization of militants in the region. Malaks who opposed the militants and army deployments were mercilessly killed in Waziristan. Political vacuum and space was created. These was no one left to raise voice against the cruelty. In this sense youth felt the burden to raise their voice through political demonstrations and writings. This small scale protests encouraged youth to secure life through peaceful and democratic moves. They looked towards solution in democratic and peaceful struggle in the land. These small kind a protests gave birth to social movement of Pashtun youth which is now known as Pashtun Protection Movement. In the case of PTM (Pashtun Protection Movement) all the organizers are  young who are educated and being educated in different lines of social and natural sciences who has already challenged the authority of clergy and Malak (Tomson, 2013). PTM emerged due to some triggering events in the past, and one of the recent accident was the staged encountering of Naqeeb Ullah Mehsood in Karachi.     

After the protest in Karachi, residents of Waziristan (Naqeebullah’s hometown) organized a peaceful protest in Dera Ismail Khan for the demands of the arrest of an involved police officer in an encounter with other his assistants in Karachi and announced to March towards the capital city of Pakistan, Islamabad. The March towards Islamabad was named Pashtun Qaumi Jirgah (Pashtun National Council of Elders). This Long Pashtun National Jirgah was headed by Manzoor Pashteen and other his like-minded youngsters, and they organized a sit-in in Islamabad Press Club and presented their demands to Federal Government and State-run institutions, especially the army and intelligence agencies. These demands were; arrest and execution of Rao Anwar, removal of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from FATA, especially North and South Waziristan agency; the release of innocent missing Pashtun or their production before the court of law, and to make ensuring smooth return of residents of Waziristan to their native areas without Watan Cards. This protest was called off and dissolute after written assurance from Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, and the prime minister assured them that their due and legal demands should be met, and all responsible authorities will be directed to ensure the implementation of the agreement between Pashtun Qaumi Jirgah and Prime Minister of Pakistan. 

These sit-in participants were Pashtun educated youth trained at different local and international universities in different disciplines, and their leadership and organizers were this youth, but the speeches and space were provided to conventional political parties leadership, social activists, media persons and other sympathizers of oppressed Pashtun in the name of terrorism at first hand by Taliban and on the other hand by state. This nexus mobilized all those Pashtun from traditional nationalist parties and other educated Pashtun to maintain the struggle and take over the leadership of the movement in their hands. At the end of a sit-in in Islamabad, the Qaumi Jirgah was named as Pashtun Tehfuz Movement (Pashtun Protection Movement-PTM). The head of the movement, Manzoor Ahmed Mehsood as known as Manzoor Pashteen, was chosen to head the movement ahead. Before taking on the leadership of the movement, it was just a crowd to raise slogans and later with dispersion and to go back to the homes, but under the leadership of Manzoor, it gained the support and sympathy of different people across the board, and this support was beyond ethnic affiliation, creed and political affiliation. Before heading of PTM, Manzoor Pashteen was head of small localized Mehsud Tehfuz Movement (Mehsood Protection Movement), where Manzoor Pashteen with other local youth used to take part in social activities. 

After taking over the leadership of Pashtun Qaumi Jirga, Manzoor Ahmed Pashteen turned the tinny and petty movement into the social movement known as the Pashtun protection movement. The aims of this movement are to secure the rights of oppressed people, especially inhabitants of FATA. They work collectively to secure constitutional and legal rights for people of FATA and other regions of Pashtun populated areas. 

Social movements are very complex phenomena in the modern world. There are different causes and effect which drive them. For understanding and constructing social movements, many social scientists developed different theories which cover social movements from different perspectives. Early social scientists focused from functionalist perspective to study the emergence of social movements, and it looks over the big picture, and it says that when there is dysfunctional in different systems of society and because of this social movements emerge, and they serve social cause like stability, health and viability of the movements within the society, but this theory lacks the systematic marginalization of some sections of society, so the Pashtun Protection Movements can be analyzed and studied through the critical theory a grand theory that focuses on this systematic aspect of social movements (Little, 2012). It looks over it that social movements arise when some section of the society is marginalized and oppressed, so people start to struggle to achieve and gain all the legal rights constituted in the framework of the constitution of the country and state. It focuses on the creation and production of disparity among the population or racial and ethnic group (Aslanidis, 2012).  

The research was done to understand the causes of PTM, and field data show that when there is a clash of narratives and people of the area believe to secure socioeconomic political rights guaranteed in constitution of the country, and they are denied of those rights and state constructs their identity to extend its interest, then social movement like PTM is emerged and it challenges all the construction and approaches to the area and its people.

Theoretical Framework

This research is analyzed through the following theoretical frame work because theory is a proposed explanation about social interactions or society. These theories explain the structure and an action that occurs in society and this interaction is sometime between two individuals, social institutions and sometimes between state and its people. Citizens of the country sometimes raise their voices to demand some legal, social and political rights from the state and they get to gather to gain and fulfil their demands. This collective decision or collective behaviour which is organized, directed and purposeful is called social movement (Little, 2012). These social movements arise due to several reasons and different situations give birth to movements. These movements are studies through different lenses of the theoretical frameworks. As social movements are complex phenomena and they serve different purposes so only one theory or an approach for the analysis of the social movement is not possible due to the aims and emergence of social movements. The following paragraphs discuss the social theories through which social movements or protests movements are studied and analyzed. Some theoretical frameworks like deprivation theory (D, J.D, & M.N, 1988), resource mobilization theory (Dobson, 2001), (Sen & Avaci, 2016) political process theory (Foweraker, 1995), critical sociology and structural strain theory theories focus on the different aspect of social movements and social change that occur sometimes when there is inequality in the society. For reversing of that artificially created inequality social movements emerge. In Waziristan the oppression and marginalization were created after the fall of Taliban government in Afghanistan and influx of foreign and regional terrorists were transported to the border area of Pakistan where thousands of innocent Pashtuns lost their lives to terrorism and counter terrorist forces. At that movement the PTM created by Pashtun youth and they want the rights and protection from the state of Pakistan and they are not given rights since the birth of Pakistan in 1947 and they are controlled by the British Law FCR (Frontier Crime Regulation).  

Social Movements and its Types

Social movements are purposeful, well organized groups and struggling and striving to work towards a common social goal. Their goals differ from region to region, but they have a common cause to bring solidarity to the people where the centre of the struggle in the area (NAACP, 2011). There are different types of social movements and they have different purposes to serve the society. Some of the social movements’ types are discussed. Reform movements; this movement seeks to change and alter the something thing about the social structure of the society. Like women rights protection movement that occurred in the different regions of the world and they tried to change the social structure of the society to bring change about the rights of women in society (Duyvendak & Giugni, 1995). In the Pashtun region, Bacha Khan started Khudai-khidmatgar, and this movement was aimed to bring social change in the behaviour of Pashtun towards conflict, struggle for their political rights and educate them about religion and worldly knowledge. This movement was aimed to transform the behaviour of Pashtun from violence to a peaceful, non-violent method for rights and protection (Gandhi, 2004). 

Revolutionary movements; these movements are aimed to completely change the structure of society and state to bring new social order in the society. Like Cuban-movement and Iranian movement which change the face of the country and brought new setup of the state and society. These movements occurred in different societies of the world where the form of government and social structure of the society was completely changed. These revolutionary movements are inspired by Marxist’s perspective. Redemptive movements; these types of movements are focused on individuals to bring internal change in the behaviour of an individual. These types of movements are called spiritual movements which aim to bring changer and internalized by the population (Aberle, 1966). These movements are mostly inspired by religion. In Muslim world, Sufism is such type of example of this movement. Alternative Movements; these movements are provoked and focused on the self-improvement and limited. They are not aimed for larger group. They are limited to some population. These movements are determined to bring specific changed to the individual beliefs and behaviour. Resistance movements; resistance movements seek to prevent or reverse change to the social structure (Carroll & Robert, 1996). 

Stages of Social Movements

Some of the sociologists and social sciences studied different social movements, and they analyzed the stage and state of each movement. These stages are called the life cycle of social movements that how social movements emerge, grow, spread, succeed and die out. They outlined a four-stage process. These stages are preliminary stage, coalescence stage, institutionalization state and decline stage.

Preliminary state is a stage when people become aware of an issue and problem and leaders emerge. Preliminary state is followed by coalescence stage of the movement. On this stage when people get together and organize in order to publicize and raise the issue and raise awareness among the people, it is based on this stage. This second stage is followed by institutionalized stage. On this stage movement no longer needs grassroots volunteerism. It is an established organization and people are conscious of it and sometimes organization pays to its people and bears the expenditures of the mobilization of the people and mobilization expenditures. When people fall away, adopt a new movement, the movement successfully brings about the change it sought, and people no longer take the issue seriously, the movement falls into the decline stage (Herbert, 1969 and Tilly, 1978). 

Pashtun Protection Movement, and It’s Organizational History

Pashtun Protection movement was formerly known as Mehsud Protection movement. Mehsud Tehfuz Movement was started in 2013. It was formed by liked minded friends of Manzoor Pashteen. It was time when Pakistan army and Taliban were on trigger and edged to start war with each other. Pakistan army and Taliban constantly were attacking each other, and people of the area were entangled between two opponent groups. Taliban and Pakistan army held their positions and they sometimes used to become friends after successful negotiations. Pakistan army and Taliban held many rounds of negotiations and agreements with each other. Everyone on its own position enjoyed the power. Pakistan army with the help of likeminded groups of Taliban formed alliances against opponent groups in the area. Residents and leaders of the area who were well aware about the developments of negotiations and humiliations used to raise their concerns in the area. People were in fear constantly. They could not express their views about the developments which were cruel to local people. The massacred in the form of losing human lives were daily routine. Everyone was aware about the massacred and brutalities on the common people of the area. Situation was in-front of each person regardless of their age and sex. No one was spare from execution and torture. Some of the leaders of the areas confronted the developments and stood against the atrocities of Taliban and army. Pakistan army and Taliban dumped mines across the area to limit the mobilization each other in the respective strong hold areas. 

At first every person in an individual capacity used to help the people, later few people under the leadership of Manzoor Pashteen tuned the stone to make an organization for help. They named it Mehsud Tehfuz Movement (MTM). It was a small and nominal organization and it had no any such type of foundation to collect funds and other resources to help. It gained momentum when the news of few women’s humiliation at army check post was spread in the area. They organized small scale protest in Tank over the accident and few people gathered at the protest point and chanted slogan against the perpetrators. When army in 2009 announced that all the IDP’s will repatriate in March back to their villages and district in Sararogha and other district in Mehsud tribal area. During operation army and Taliban in retaliation installed landmines across the agency. Due to these landmines many army personals and Taliban lost their lives to their own mines. When people were repatriated in these areas and army did not clear the area from landmines and accidents of mines blast became the routine of daily. Children, women, and men lost lives and some disabled for rest of their lives. Mehsud Tehfuz social activists used to arrange blood, medical facilities at hospitals and protests for their rights in different districts and used to convey the miseries and atrocities on the hands of Taliban and other stakeholders to political agents, and human rights organization.

These were the foundations and causes of Pashtun Protection Movement. Behind this movement are the cries of mothers, deliberately orphaned children, widows and disappeared innocent Pashtuns. Victims of landmines, humiliation of people on check posts, targeted killings of innocent people across Pakistan.

Pashtun Protection Movement as a Social Movement

Pashtun protection movement is a purposeful movement. It works for the rights of people above the ethnic, creed, gender and colour. Pashteen said, the PTM is an organization working for the rights of the people who are affected by war on terror in FATA especially in South Waziristan. This movement does protest in different parts of the country to mobile people against alleged enforced disappearances, extrajudicial arrests and killings, as well as the mistreatment and humiliation of Pashtun at chest posts, and mistreatment of Pashtun across the country. 

Check Posts

Some the mistreatment happened to people on security check posts are listed below. 

1. Murgha Bana; it is a type of punishment. A person has to cross his arms behind his knees and catch his ear. This type of punishment is called Murgha-bana. In other sense that a respectable human beings is pushed and lowered to the category of animal and birds category. In Pashtu the word for murgha bana is ghowazona newal. This symbolic kind of punishment is reminded to people and they were compelled to repent on the actions which they have never done and could not even think to do it in future. This type of treatment is given to all age of people. No one was spared from it. Without CNIC every person was supposed to see the humiliation on security check posts. 

2. Beating; punishing of people was common phenomena. Every person was kicked on check posts if he had not followed the hand indicated sing. Army at check post was treating people like they are treating with the criminals in interrogation centres. Once a Nazim of a district parked a car few yards ahead from the specific point. He was in caravan. He was beaten up in front of the people and he was ordered to drag himself under his car and come out on the other side five times. He was helpless to it because he was unable to deter the situation. The rest of the population was accustomed to receiving strike by foot of army man if he does not comply with army person direction. On a petty mistake people were prone to such humiliated punishment. 

3. Throw into mud; on minor mistake army made passengers to get into mud. They were compelled to lie down in the mud. This was applied to people whenever they made a minor mistake, they treated with it. 

4. Putting behind the bars; people without CNIC were put behind the bars. In detentions centres the arrested people were kept over there without passing through legal procedures.  In detention centres people were beaten up and later they were freed and warn to not speak about the mistreatment in public 

The above mistreatment happened to people created the feelings of marginalization and discrimination feelings in whole Pashtun population. Pashtun are the most travelling ethnic group. This travelling and migration to other parts of country and international labour marketing are due to physical landscapes of Pashtun areas. Most the Pashtun land is only suitable to grazing and livestock. The flourishing and nourishing were not managed by any state and other provincial departments. For their livelihood and for financial support most the male population migrate to areas to support families financially at home.  

Enforced Disappearances

When army started operation, peopled were scared. These fears were like earth quack tremors. It shocked everyone across the Pashtun belt. Daily raids at homes, offices, workplace, religious seminaries, schools, colleges and universities were not spared from these raids. All those people were targeted for enforced disappearances who talked about the ambiguous role of the army during operation and post-operation. All the leadership like malaks, who opposed the ambiguous role of the Pakistan army and other state agencies were targeted. These enforced disappeared people were kept on unknown detention and torture cells without proper legal procedure. Dr. Syed Alam Mehsud, a representative of PTM, said that there are 32000 missing in the last decade. Families are searching for them in every corner of the country, but a state of Pakistan and security agencies failed to bring them into the court of law. Police stations and other civil authorities are helpless in recovering them or bringing them into court. Mohsin Dawar contributed that we have announced and appointed some members of PTM to collect accurate information from relatives of the missing person. This information is later cross-checked by contacting the families of these missing persons. Some of the data is shared with other organizations that are working for the peaceful recovery people. One of the girl, age 11 made the following speech to a charged crowd in Swat; 

“I hear other’s father calling for their children. I wonder why my father is not with us, why are they so cruel to us? I have come here alone because they have left us without hope. I have spoken to my father once, but for the last 3 years, we don’t know where he is kept and whether he is alive or not. {audience chanted slogans against the double game of state institutions. Due to this double game, the lives of innocent Pashtuns have been destined to destruction}. Other children go to schools, mercenaries, universities and colleges, but we kept away from basic human rights of education. We are unable to go to school. Last year during Ramadan, they asked us to come to prison and meet our father, but during Eid, we were crying while they were celebrating. They do not care about us. I have trust in God that my father will be alive. I have trust in Manzoor Pashteen (head of the PTM) that he will bring my father with God’s mercy back to me. I hope my father will be released so that I can focus on my life again so that I can go to school again because right now we are left nowhere”.

Another woman in Burqa/chaadri (a billowing blue colour cotton cloth allowing vision through netting over the eyeholes) addressed to the peaceful crowd/jalsa in Peshawar. She contributed her emotional and miserable story about her enforced disappeared husband in the following words;

My dear brothers, sisters and oppressed sisters, I am a mother of two children. I have no male person to earn livelihood for me. My husband was a labour and he was doing industrious work. Despite being a labour, he was picked up by Swat scout and from that day he is not seen. He was innocent. I appeal to state of Pakistan and Manzoor Pashteen to bring back my husband and father of my two children. My two children are patient of blood disease thalassemia. There is no one to donate blood, arrange blood for them. Is there anyone who can educate them? What can I do? I am young lady. I appeal to you. I am Afridi woman. I talked due to miseries and helplessness. I am from Fata. In FATA women do not come out of their homes. I have come here due to oppression and compulsion. These two children standing nearby my side, they need blood twice or three times in a week. I roam helpless in streets, homes and hospitals to find and arrange blood for my children. People look at me with malicious and ogling stare looks. They do not know about my sufferings and sadness. An enemy does this. This type of misshapen is done by agnatic rivals, who share land and agricultural land. This is done to me by my state which is entitled to protect me, but state of Pakistan is making terrorists their guests these guests are {Sufi Mohammad and Ahsanullah Ahsan}. Why have they beaten us why they have destroyed us? What is fault of mine, my husband and my children and my Pashtun? Although I am uneducated, I have never been to such gatherings. I was compelled by situation to come here. I am destroyed. I am helpless. Please help me. Is there any one to take care of Pashtuns? I ask only to find my husband. If he has done anything wrong, bring him into court and give punishment and if he is clear, it is humble request to release him. I am not against my country, Pakistan. I do not hate my country and army of my country. I salute to my country. I hate those who transgress their limits, humiliate poor people and violate. 

The above two case studies are from the field work that every type of person was affected from military presence in the area. They did not bring any peace to families but pushed all of them into the ocean of sorrows forever. 

Extrajudicial Killings

After military clearance during the displacement, all the people of FATA, especially Waziristani were allowed to travel across the country. They lost everything at home town. They were in search of livelihood and shelter started settling in different parts of the country. One of the most appealing cities was Karachi. Many tribesmen from Waziristan went to Karachi for daily waging and livelihood because there was already a good number of Mehsud’s presence in Karachi.

PTM Organization

Pashtun Tehfuz Movement went from local organization or hesitation or spontaneous movement to larger audience and supporters within no time. They have availed result. Pashtun history is full of such movements, but these movements can be only explained within the parameters of culture. South Waziristan is peopled by three main tribes Wazir, Dawar and Mehsud. They have the same culture, psyche and politic-socio-economic system. They are governed by Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the political agent system. Due to this framework of state institutions, these people are embedded with the same culture and political organization. State powers are distributed, and power is devolved to local malaks of the area. These malaks are appointed by political agents and extended by the governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. When instructions and order are delivered from state of Pakistan and political agent these massages delivered by state appointed Malak. 

In the area the head of clan or we can say head of the village is malak. There are different types of stratifications of malaks in the area and their position is measured in rupees. This money is given every time by political agent to malaks in every meeting. They come in their own cars or sometime rented a car and go to the political agent’s office in Wana and Tank. Other type of Malak is a person who has authority entrusted by people of the village in him.

Akbar S Ahmed during his tenure as political agent explained the triangle of power in the area and at that time he indicated that there is fourth force that is new generation that is reluctant to the power of malak in the administration and their black-sheep character in the area where every malak is running after his, and his family interest and they always gained the support of political agents for the world gains and economic gains. Now the power has four pillars in the area. When Mulla, under the quasi name of Taliban, surged in the area and took control of the area and tried to impose their own way of thinking over the large population of Mehsud, Wazir and Dawar. In their surge, the main aim was to Islamise their tribal thinking into the core of Islam and to damage the freedom and indigenous lifestyle of the tribal people (Ahmed, 1983). 

Their role in the area was neither Islamic nor tribal. It was just like might is right where the power was in the hands of gunmen, and they targeted every person who did not support them. More than one thousand tribal leaders were assassinated, and thousands of people migrated for life sake to nearby areas. It was the era of chaos and fear. When the clash of Taliban and state occurred, it gave gains of power to another state agency, and the agency again played the role of malaks where the Taliban got supervision under their hands, and the target came over to the miserable people of the area. All the posts and check and balance were imposed on the non-militant residents of the area. The two decades of terrible clashes among Taliban groups and sometimes tribesmen and Taliban and sometimes between Taliban. In these clashes, the main victims of these were common men and their loss of property, land and social character in the eyes of the world and co-countrymen in Pakistan.

Stages of Pashtun Tehfuz Movement

Pashtun Tehfuz Movement went through many stages like any other social movement in other countries and regions of the world. Pashtun populated areas were under serious security situation since 2001. The time was uncertain, and many people were murdered in broad day light without discrimination of age and gender. The incident of killing and violence was a common daily routine. Fort the suicide bombers targeted urban areas. In these attacks, on a daily basis, hundreds of people lost their lives. Many civil servants and political personalities lost their lives in these attacks. Some of the politicians and leaders of the area were ambushed on their way to their homes and for political activities. For the first-time man from Waziristan was killed on his way home from Islamabad. He was a sitting MNA. It means no one was spared from such brutal attacks. 

Preliminary stage

In this stage, small scale protests were organized in nearby districts to aware the people of such tactics and raise slogans against the culprits. There was fear of kidnapping and target killing if there was one person who wants to change the scene in the area. When many likeminded people like Manzoor Pashteen, Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar, the front runner of the movement with the help of other educated people, thought of movement to spread awareness among people of FATA and other regions and especially the state of Pakistan, that these people of FATA are passing through miserable conditions of life through the hands of army and Taliban. It gave them hope when thousands of Pashtuns joined them. These protest and sit-ins were attended by thousands of young educated Pashtuns, civil right activists and other people. 

PTM has done it very thoroughly. They share stories of people from their platforms. They do not use sophisticated tools or methods which are difficult for people to understand. They use a very simple way, and this method is embedded in the Pashtun culture. They narrate the stories in the best way to common people. The participants of the movement are also interested in their way of communication. They present everything with proofs. They record the miseries of people where such incidents have happened. In the beginning they went from village to village to inform and convince the people to get involved in social work and protect the lives of Pashtun under the law and constitution of Pakistan. In strive for convincing the people they succeeded in no time. Manzoor said; this was due to the same experience of all Pashtuns across Pakistan and abroad, because when you hear the last name “Khan”, the people get alert about some fear. This was the image of Pashtun across the globe. Due to this, we did not face any counter questions and arguments from other Pashtun to convince them to join us for protest and asking for constitutional and legal rights. 

Coalescence stage

PTM, at this stage, started small scale protests without main leadership. People participated in gatherings and protests over mistreatments at different points. All over Pakistan, people used to gather and chant slogans over against the oppressor, but they were not aware of their direction, and they did not have a point of action and platform to raise collective voice. These small-scale protests award people the Pashtun’s question and miseries. They attracted people from different fields and walks of life. These people have informed the cause of PTM and its struggle to strengthen the hold of law over all citizens of the country and Manzoor Pashteen said; we want every Pakistani to spend life under the code of law. No one must be above the law. Everyone whether from army or from any tribal identity must be equal before the law of the state and those who violated the law and made lives of the people miserable must be accountable to common men of the country and courts of the states. We believe in democracy and equal rights of all citizens. We will never allow any person or institution to usurp the rights of the people. As Pakistan is in a geographical location where everyone wants to abrogate the law and defines his/her own self law and we by protesting and struggle of hesitation will compel the authorities and stakeholders of power to comply their actions according to law. 

PTM organized series of protest all over the country. The first and the foremost was Islamabad’s sit-in. It gave them life and attracted hundreds of people from political and social setups. Ten days speech all the political leaders of different parties participated in their sit-ins and addressed the people. Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Chairman of Pashtun Khwa Mili Aqami Party rendered his and his party support of the demands of the movement and their way of getting rights. He said that we (Pashtun) are here to demand our legal rights and civilized life from the state. We will compel the state to alter their policies and change the behaviour of the state towards its own citizens who are killed sometimes in the name of terrorism and sometimes in the name of national interest. If the state does not answer to our demands we will beat the drum and it will be cheegha (Daur, 2014)of Pashtun nation and at that time there will be no power to stop us from our destination and state needs to look in to the matter peacefully and it may not compel the youth to look wards other option. He concluded his speech on the following tappa. This tappa indicated the situation if the state does not look to PTM’s demands. 

Institutionalized stage

PTM is a very nascent movement and the first type of social movement in the history of Pashtun of the subcontinent after the Khudai-khidmat-Gar (Servants of God) in the colonial era and after few years of partition. It had local and national level leadership who were groomed with long life mobilization of India Congress in United India. Later the Khudai-khidmat-gar movement turned into political party and leadership of the party remained in the family of Bacha Khan, but PTM is a different emerging voice of voiceless. It is challenging the state narratives and international powers that people of FATA and Pashtun only know to fight in the name of God and ready to behead and beheaded for the sake of Islam and that Islam is radical and tribal Islam. 

PTM has taken responsibility to wash up the stains put by colonial era and labelled them as violent in nature. Their struggle from day first to the last date of my field work remained peaceful and determined to keep and secure the movement from political influence as well from political scoring. They have limited the core committee to purely for those who just want peaceful life and right to life and dignity in tribal area and Pashtu in the world. PTM is struggling to finalize the formal setup of the movement. Up to mow they have developed the concept from local to national level committees, but these are very sharp changes in the members of core committee and regional committees, because some of the people who were part of parties to influence the decisions of PTM and taking over the stage during gatherings. Manzoor Pashteen in his last interview laid down the foundations that all those people like Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar who participated in parliamentary election will not be members of core committee. PTM has no links with their decisions and stance in parliamentary politics. They are free to decide their political career in parliament and they are free to support any government in centre and province. 

The above all concepts and practices are at initial stage and it is difficult to say something in black and white about them, but they are striving their best to formulate the position of its members and offices of the participants. All of the participants and supporters are agreed on the leadership of Manzoor Pashteen that the movement is and will be always presided by Manzoor Pashteen. The reason of the agreement on Manzoor’s leadership is due to his assurance to people that he would not gain anything from the movement and he has dedicated his life to cause of Pashtun and to restore the dignity of Pashtuns across the country and in the world.

Conclusion

Pashtun Protection movement is an indigenous social movement that emerged from the tribal areas of Pakistan. The social and political structure of the tribal areas were controlled and dealt by triangle of the powers. These powers were held by the political agent, Mullah and Malak. Malaks were the locale representatives of the state to deal with administration in the area. They were appointed by state to administrator the affairs of the state at local level. they used to gain the support of political agent for their personal interests in the area and in return the state machinery award them with development projects and these projects were carried out by them without any auditing in the area. This movement strives to restore the writ of the state according to the law and arrangement of life and belongings according to the constitution of the country.

References

• Aberle, D. (1966). The Peyote Religion among the Navaho. Chicago: Aldine.
• Ahmed, A. S. (1983). Religion and Politics in Muslim Society: Order and Conflict in Pakistan. Cambridge University Press.
• Aslanidis, P. (2012). Critical Review of Social Movement Literature. Research Gate.
• Benford, R., & David, S. (2000). Framing Processes and Social Movements: Anoverview and Assessment. Annual Review of Sociology, 26, 611-639.
• Carroll, W., & Robert, R. (1996). Master Frames and Counter-Hegemony: Political Sensibilities in Contemporary Social Movements. Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 33, 407-435.
• Crozier, B. (1974). A Theory of Conflict, London:. Hamish Hamilton.
• D, M., J.D, M., & M.N, Z. (1988). Handbook of sociology. Newbury Park: Sage Publications.
• Daur, G. Q. (2014). Cheegha: The Call . l'Aleph - Sweden.
• Dobson, C. ( 2001). Social movements: A summary of what works. The Citizen's Handbook: A Guide to Building Community in Vancouver. Retrieved from
• Duncan, E. (1989). Breaking the Curfew: A Political Journey Through Pakistan. (1, Ed.) Michael Joseph.
• Duyvendak, J. W., & Giugni, M. (1995). Social movement types and policy domains. In J. W. Duyvendak, & M. Giugni, New Social Movements in Western Europe. A Comparative Analysis (pp. 82-101). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
• Foweraker, J. (1995). Theorizing social movements: Pluto Press. London: Pluto Press.
• Frembgen, J. W. (2009). Journey to God : Sufis and Dervishes in Islam. Oxford University Press.
• Gandhi, R. (2004). Ghaffar Khan: Nonviolent Badshah of the Pakhtuns. Penguin Books.
• Lindholim, C., & Embree, A. (1979). The Segmentary Lineage System: Its Applicability to Pakistan's Political Structure.Pakistan's Western Borderlands: Transformation of a Political Orde. Karachi: Royal Book Compan.
• Little, w. (2012). Introduction to Sociology (Vol. 1). (1. C. Edition, Ed.) Hewlett Foundation.
• NAACP. (2011). 100 Year of History: Introduction to Social Movements and Social Change. Retrieved from
• Nations, U. (2004). War on Terror. United Nations Security Council .
• Q.C, L. C. (2007). THe Definition of Terrorism. House of Commons HansardDebates.
• Sen, A., & Avaci, O. (2016). Why Social Movements Occur: Theories of Social Movements. Bilgi Ekonomisi ve Yönetimi Dergisi, XI(I).
• Shapiro, J. N., & Fair, C. C. (2009). Understanding Support for Islamist Militancy in Pakistan. International Security, 34, 86-87.
• Smelser, N. J. (2011). THeory of Collective Behavior. New Orleans, Louisiana: Quid Pro Books
• Thackrah, J. R. (2004). Dictionary of Terrorism (Vol. Second Edition ). Routledge.
• Tomson, P. (2013). The Wars of Afghanistan: Massianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflict and The Failures of Great Powers. New York : Public Affairs.
• Wazir, R. (2018, March 9). New York Times . Retrieved from www.nytimes.com: