New Delhi, Aug 3 (IANS): On July 12, Pakistan witnessed a profound display of unity, sorrow, and ethnic identity as thousands gathered to honour a poet. From Islamabad to his native graveyard in Asadkhel, North Waziristan, people, especially Pashtuns, flocked to view the casket of the revered Pashtun poet and activist Gilaman Wazir.

A prominent member of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, Wazir was fatally attacked on July 7 in Islamabad, an assault suspected to be orchestrated by Pakistani security agencies. This tragic event is not an isolated incident but rather a continuation of a disturbing pattern where Pashtun dissent is suppressed, their leaders or activists targeted, and their entire community subjected to intensified security measures.

Growing up near the Durand Line in North Waziristan, which was part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) until 2018, the 30-year-old endured a life deeply affected by terrorism from both state and non-state actors, severe economic hardship, and frequent displacements. This region, formerly known as FATA, has witnessed numerous cycles of violence and oppression, driven by complex regional and global geopolitical dynamics.

Gilaman Wazir (officially known as Hazrat Naeem) became a thorn in the side of Pakistani authorities when he engaged in digital activism for Pashtun rights from Bahrain, where he worked as a labourer. He supported the emerging Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), a peaceful group demanding military accountability for its excesses and the restoration of Pashtun democratic rights and civil liberties.

In 2020, at Pakistan's request, Bahrain jailed him and then deported him, with Pakistani authorities subsequently seizing his passport. Once back home, Wazir intensified his PTM activism, participating in protests, reciting poetry, and mobilizing the Pashtun community. His social media presence was influential, where he criticized the Taliban and the Pakistani state.

He fervently advocated for Pashtun women's rights, emphasised the shared identity of Pashtuns across the border, and expressed his admiration for the Afghan national flag. It is not surprising that the Pakistani regime, known for its aversion to ethnic identity-based movements, repeatedly imprisoned him, with the most recent detention spanning from July 2023 to February 2024.

PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen, addressing the mourners, revealed, "He was bitten by dogs and subjected to electric shocks".

Wazir is not the first PTM leader to suffer torture or death at the hands of the Pakistani establishment.

In 2019, PTM member and Pashto literature professor Arman Loni was taken from a sit-in and was reportedly killed by the police, who attributed his death to a heart attack.

The following year, PTM leader Arif Wazir was shot by unidentified assailants, just four days after being released on bail for an allegedly 'anti-national' speech.

The PTM originated in 2018 from its predecessor, the Mehsud Tahafuz Movement (MTM), a peaceful grassroots initiative led by internally displaced university students. This movement called for fair investigations into enforced disappearances, targeted killings, land demining, and the removal of surveillance measures like security checkpoints, as well as an end to systemic discrimination.

Initially formed to protest the police killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, who was accused of Taliban links, the MTM soon broadened its focus to include all Pashtun communities, who had collectively endured similar terror and repression.

While the roots of the Pashtuns' troubles can be traced back to colonial-era occupations and artificially drawn national borders, the current conflict largely ignited with the US invasion of Afghanistan.

Following this event, the Taliban fighters sought refuge in the region, not only to escape but also to continue their operations. Consequently, the civilian population found itself caught in the crossfire. The Taliban, on one hand, radicalized and recruited youth, targeted community elders who opposed them, and engaged in extortion and executions.

On the other hand, the US and Pakistani state responded with indiscriminate bombings, drone strikes, and extensive military operations, wreaking havoc on local lives and livelihoods.

This backdrop explains why Pashtun communities are protesting the latest Pakistani military campaign, 'Operation Azm-e-Istehkam'.

Additionally, the region formerly known as FATA had suffered under repressive state mechanisms, exemplified by the British-era Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) that enforced collective punishment. While the FCR was abolished in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 1956 and Balochistan in 1973, it remained in effect in FATA until 2018, when FATA was finally integrated into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The PTM draws inspiration and tactics from Bacha Khan (Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan) and his 'Red Shirt Movement', as well as Khan Shaheed (Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai), a Pashtun nationalist from present-day Balochistan who led a non-violent civil disobedience campaign against British rule.

Primarily led by students, lawyers, political and human rights activists, and professors, the PTM is driven by a commitment to constitutional democracy and local traditions, despite state attempts to label it as separatist and 'foreign-funded'.

In 2018, PTM leaders Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir were elected to Pakistan's National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament. A key demand of the PTM is the creation of impartial truth and reconciliation commissions to investigate human rights abuses that occurred during Pakistani military operations in Pashtun areas.

The Pakistani state perceives the PTM as a significant threat due to its scrutiny of the army's actions and its advocacy for Pashtun unity, which challenges the state's foundational narrative of a monolithic Islamic identity. The movement is frequently accused of receiving support from adversarial countries like India and Afghanistan, and its leaders are often arrested and tortured on charges of sedition.

At times, Pakistani forces, either directly or through intermediaries like the Taliban-defector-led 'Peace Committees' or 'unidentified assailants', employ violence to suppress the PTM.

The assassination of Gilaman Wazir seems to exemplify and perpetuate this strategy, which has claimed several other lives before him. The media, under military directives, is instructed to ignore PTM protests and minimise coverage of their leaders.

This was evident when the media overlooked Wazir's funeral, despite it being attended by tens of thousands. Nonetheless, the full force of the Pakistani state failed to deter a long-suffering populace from gathering to honour their slain poet, waving Afghan flags and chanting, 'ye jo dehshatgardi hai, iske peechhe wardi hai' (those in uniform are behind this terrorism).