On January 26, 2018, the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement organized a protest march starting from Dera Ismail Khan, passing through Lakki Marwat, Bannu, Karak, Kohat, and Darra Adam Khel, and reaching Peshawar on January 28.[10] Then after marching through Charsadda, Mardan, Swabi, and Tarnol, the march reached Islamabad, where a sit-in called "All Pashtun National Jirga" was organized from February 1. The jirga condemned the murder of the Pashtun shopkeeper Naqeebullah Mehsud who was shot dead by police force in Karachi during an encounter, and the alleged state oppression against the Pashtuns.[11] It asked the government to set up a judicial inquiry for Naqeebullah Mehsud, as well as for all the other Pashtuns murdered extrajudicially in police encounters. The jirga demanded to stop racial profiling of the Pashtuns in Pakistan, and to bring the Pashtun missing persons before the court of law, so that those who are innocent but held could be freed.[12] The jirga also demanded Pakistan Army to guarantee that they will not abduct or open fire on innocents in the tribal areas, or use violence or collective punishment against entire villages and tribes, and that they will not impose the frequent curfews on the movement of locals even after minor incidents.[13] Another demand was to remove all land mines planted in the tribal areas, which have resulted in many civilian casualties. The protesters said that since 2009, more than 35 people including children had been killed due to land mines in South Waziristan alone.[14] The Afghan President Ashraf Ghani supported the protest, and referred to it as a positive initiation against fundamentalism in the region.[15] Other Pashtun political leaders, including Mahmood Khan Achakzai (Chairman of Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party) and Asfandyar Wali Khan (President of Awami National Party), also endorsed all demands of the jirga.[16] The sit-in in Islamabad ended on February 10, but the organizers of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement announced that they would reconvene the protest if their demands were not fulfilled by the government.[15]
Media Blackout of the Movement
Pakistan's mainstream television channels and media outlets are not reporting and covering the activities of the PTM. Their only medium to interact with the rest of Pakistan and to keep them updated is through social media. This further strengthens their narrative of being sidelined and ignored by the system.[17]
Demands of the Movement
There was great gathering of PTM in the center of KPK, Peshawar on 8th April, 2018 gathering. More than 60 thousand people have join the protest. Their main demands are as follows:
Malala Yousafzai supported the Long March tweeting, "I express my solidarity with the ongoing peaceful #IslamabadSitin and appeal the Prime Minister, the Chief of Army Staff and the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take immediate notice of the genuine demands of the people of FATA and Pukhtoonkhwa. #PukhtoonLongMarch #JusticeForNaqib."[19][20]
