Last year’s Swat peace rally was a symbolic gesture — an announcement that the valley, whose history had been soiled with militancy and terrorism, had regained peace and confidence again. The rally was wholeheartedly supported by the state and witnessed by thousands of people and was the people’s collective vow to step into peace and from extremism. But then what was intended to be a demonstration of power was written in earnest by Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) because the latter preferred to employ canards, burning of grievances, and bashing of Pakistani institutions for political gains.
PTM’s social media setup soon got into action, claiming that state institutions had intimidated PTM activists following the rally. They made baseless claims against the Pakistan Army of still maintaining “colonial practices” in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — a term which not only decreases people’s IQ but also shames the peace process that has ensured normalcy in the region. Such baseless claims are a trend: whenever Pakistan is basking in progress or harmony, PTM is trying to usher in bickering and mistrust.
Ground reality is showing a very different scenario. The Swat peace rally was held with extreme discipline and in a non-sectarian way. Citizens of all kinds — merchants, educators, students, elder citizens, and families — united on the banner of peace. There wasn’t any riot, tyranny, or oppression on citizens’ rights. Security agencies provided security, not tyranny. The episode was proof that peace of every citizen is where it should be in Swat — the outcome of the ordeal of years at the expense of the Pakistan Army, police powers, and the brave people of the valley who never surrendered to the terrorists. PTM is rightfully clearing the true enemy — Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — by turning against the state.
It was that web of fear that forged into being the terrorism which had so far struck fear in Swat in the guise of blasting schools, killing teachers, setting bazaars on fire, and kidnapping communities. It was TTP, and not the state, that had governed through fear over the populace. And not PTM but Pakistan’s army, beloved by the masses, freed the valley at a humungous cost of sacrifice — a war that had claimed over 94,000 martyrs in Pakistan. But PTM’s spin prefers to overlook such facts.
Its propaganda seeks to make the world go topsy-turvy — calling terrorists victims and custodians of peace victimizers. It harbors a hidden agenda: it demobilizes the people, demoralizes the combatants who are busy fighting to protect the nation, and aligns itself — in bad or good faith — with the expansionist elite discourse of powers that aim to destabilize Pakistan from within. While PTM labels all acts against the militants as such, and all peace efforts as “state oppression,” what it is really saying is that its politics thrive in dissonance and not in consonance. The Swat people have learned their lessons despite that. They remember those who stood by them during their hour of need — when the schools were closed, music prohibited, and opposition muzzled with the bullet.
They accuse the civilians and the soldiers who have fought together just to regain their roads and schools. They stand on the martyrs’ blood in their belief in the security of the state and not on opportunists’ lies. That is why PTM’s efforts at politicizing Pashtun grievance are being obstinately refused by those very people whom they accuse of speaking. PTM leadership claims to be the voice of Pashtun interests but its activities relentlessly dismantles national cohesion. Democratic rhetoric or slogans to develop underdeveloped areas are replaced by social media indignation and slogan-shouting at the cost of the state as the main instrumentality.
It does not construct bridges; it reduces bridges to ashes. It does not heal wounds; it creates fresh wounds. By ethnically politicizing against the state, PTM is fanning their gunpowder among those who want a broken and crippled Pakistan. While Pakistan is making efforts to secure the borders and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, this divisive propaganda is enough to bring succor to the extremists. TTP and their patrons survive on internal conflict — and PTM’s constant rhetorical tirades against the heroes of the country only consolidate these webs of adversaries. There can never be peace if those who fight to defend it are demonized and demoralized on an ongoing basis. The valor of Pakistan’s martyrs — soldiers in Swat’s hills, shoppers in Peshawar’s markets — is sacred. They are the pillars upon which the peace that now opens schools, opens commerce, and opens dreams to children again is supported. To resent or to tarnish this fact would be to be disloyal to the nation’s cause in the war against terror.
The Swat rally was not an ordinary phenomenon — it was a manifestation of national unity, a promise that Pakistan has achieved peace and shall be forced to hold on to it no matter what. PTM propaganda as loud as possible can definitely not drown the voice of peace and progress advocates. People of Swat made a clear cut in favor of peace over fear, in favor of truth over falsehood, in favor of Pakistan over propaganda — and this will decide the fate of the region.