They broke up with India on the issue of religious fanaticism. They have time and again backstabbed us in the name of maintaining peace. Yet, it is Pakistan and not India that is more peaceful and tolerant in the eyes of some.
However, a massive rally recently conducted portrays a completely different picture. It looks as if not everything is rosy in ‘peaceful’ Pakistan. In the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Peshawar, scores of Pakistanis protested against the iron-fist control of Islamabad over their provinces, which share the border with Afghanistan.
In a massive rally held at Pishtakhara near Peshawar, slogans were raised against the Pakistani establishment, ranging from the much touted call of ‘azaadi’ (freedom) to the call to stop the abduction of innocent citizens by Pakistani security forces on the pretext of spreading anarchy.
Organized by Pashtun Tahfuz Movement, the rally protested against the oppression levied on Pashtuns by the bureaucrats as well as the soldiers operating from the Punjab province. Media reports suggest that more than one lakh people participated in the protests, titled ‘Long March to Peshawar’, which lasted for approximately three hours. Addressing the rally, PTM leader Manzoor Ahmed Pashteen exhorted the masses to remain united until they receive constitutional rights.
As reported by Pakistani newspaper Daily Times, Pashteen said, “There are two sorts of laws in this country: one is for killers and the other is for law followers but now PTM will stand with the deprived and poor people of Pakistan at any cost (sic).”
These protests which have popped up time and again in Peshawar, also had a popular slogan which was too crucial to be ignored. Some of the protesters were chanting, ‘Yeh jo dehshatgardi hai, uske peeche vardi hai!’ (Whatever is this terror, the uniform is the reason). With the word ‘vardi’ they made a direct attack on the high handedness of the Pakistani Army, which is notorious for their atrocities on the hapless and the innocent across the country, as well as the Indian borders.
However, one needs to look deeper, since these protests are only the tip of the iceberg. Though Pakistan was created along religious lines, it was created without taking the approval of the provinces concerned. Be it North West Frontier Province, or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, or Sindh, or even Balochistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (two of the most volatile regions of the Pakistani territories), the provinces are fed up due to constant humiliations and atrocities imposed upon them by Pakistan in the name of subjugating their neighbor, India.
Pakistan is a clear example of how religious fanaticism can ruin the entire machinery of a nation. Instead of focusing on what could give their masses a better life, all of Pakistan’s resources are directed towards one sole cause: capturing Jammu & Kashmir and gradually infiltrating the entire Indian peninsula. This is not something which a nation in its right mind would ever think of, but that’s Pakistan for you.
However, with these protests, it seems that Pakistan is itself on the verge of being cornered royally from all sides. With USA turning its back on them officially and China having almost compelled them into submission for their own nefarious agendas, and these protests now, Pakistan is having a really tough time. While rallies for ‘breaking India’ have a few thousand drug-induced takers, such rallies in Pakistan have a massive following, amounting to lakhs on an average.
If the protests in Peshawar gather momentum, the dominant province of Punjab, will soon be surrounded by dissent on every side. Pakistan disintegrating is an undeniable reality (remember 1971), and it is only a matter of time!