Areeba Shehzadi 
Areeba Shehzadi 
The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) a movement originally started in 2014 gained prominence through demands focused entirely on everyday survival issues faced by the people of South Waziristan and the former FATA, became violent and proscribed by Pakistan in October 2024 under Section 11-B of the Anti-Terrorism Act. While a movement that started to become a voice for localized humanitarian issues, its leadership found moving to abroad after 2018 and its scope transitioned from regional and humanitarian demands to pan- Pashtun nationalist narrative encapsulated by phrases like “from Amu Darya to the Indus”. PTM UK (one of PTM’s Overseas Chapter) is organzing an event in Colorado, under the banner of “One Nation, One Goal” on 15th Aug, 2026.
PTM’s Key Arguments:
Here are PTM’s primary claims under this banner:
- Under the Pan-Pashtun Nationalist Narrative, They claim that the entire region stretching from the Amu Darya river in northern Afghanistan to the Indus River in Pakistan belongs to a single, undivided “Pashtun nation”. The movement treats Pashtuns on both sides of the border, spanning eastern/southern Afghanistan and western Pakistan as part of a single, indivisible socio-cultural continuum.
- They claim that the 1893 Durand Line between Pakistan and Afghanistan is an artificial border that illegitimately divides the Pashtun people. PTM’s rhetoric rejects the Durand Line as an imperial, colonial construct (drawn by British administrator Sir Mortimer Durand in 1893) that arbitrarily divided the Pashtun homeland.
- They claim that Pashtuns in Pakistan are an oppressed ethnic minority systematically marginalized by a dominant central state.
- They claim that state counter-terrorism measures, border fencing, and military checkpoints are design to target Pashtun civilians rather than protect them.
The “Pan-Pashtunistan” Expansion (Amu Darya to Abasin)
PTM’s slogan claiming a unified “Pashtun nation” stretching from the Amu Darya river in northern Afghanistan to the Abasin (Indus River) in Pakistan is historically incorrect and geographically misleading. The region south of the Amu Darya down to the Hindu Kush in northern Afghanistan is populated primarily by non-Pashtun communities, including Tajiks, Uzbeks, Turkmens, and Hazaras. Claiming this entire territory as a monolithic Pashtun land erases the non-Pashtun majority living in central and northern Afghanistan.
The Durand Line as an “Artificial Border”
Cross-border ethnic continuity is standard across South and Central Asia; for instance, Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Turkmens are similarly split across Afghanistan’s northern borders without engaging in anti-state separatism. PTM’s hyper-focus on Pakistan’s western border is a selective activation of identity politics than a universal political principle. PTM is aggressively trying to transform ethnic identity into a territorial project. The selective politicization of the Durand Line doesn’t speak for itself neitheir do reducing a complex geographical region to a single ethnic nation. The existence of Pashtun communities across a border is a demographic reality, not proof that the border has no political or legal significance.
Pashtuns as an “Oppressed Minority”
Historically, Pashtuns have been well-represented in the highest offices of Pakistan. Ghulam Ishaq Khan, a Pashtun, served as the President of Pakistan, and General Waheed Kakar played a key role as the Army Chief. Pashtuns like Air Chief Abbas Khattak and Roedad Khan have made significant contributions to Pakistan’s defense and civil services, ensuring that their community remains central to the country’s progress. In addition to political and military contributions, Pashtuns have also shone in the fields of sports and international activism. Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan, both legendary squash players, brought international acclaim to Pakistan, as did cricketers like Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi. On the global stage, Malala Yousafzai, a Nobel laureate, has become a symbol of resilience and advocacy for girls’ education, reflecting the strength and potential of the Pashtun community. This level of representation in key institutions challenges the PTM’s claim that Pashtuns are marginalized or excluded from state affairs.
Security Operations and Counter-Terrorism
PTM criticizes the counter terrorism actions terms it as illegal and unfair targeting of the Pashtuns in the name of violation of socalled human rights. PTM leadership never condemns TTP or ISKP attacks even though the majority of victims in KP and ex-FATA are Pashtuns themselves. According to DG ISPR, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded 3,811 terrorist attacks over the course of the year, accounting for roughly 71% of the 5,397 total incidents nationwide 12,857 operations were conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. PTM donot criticize TTP, rather both TTP and PTM support each other in words and actions. A senior member of PTM, Ali Wazir, has consistently delivered hate speeches against the military and state institutions where he incited people to carry out attacks against them as well.
When a movement that once claimed to represent those grievances begins to echo external geopolitical narratives while remaining silent on terrorism that has killed thousands of its own people, it inevitably raises questions about whose interests it is ultimately serving.
Contradictions in PTM’s Narrative
PTM’s “One Nation, One Goal” rhetoric goes beyond cultural solidarity when it invokes a transnational political geography, parrot voices on selective issues , reverberate Afghan Agenda of Durand line and sidestep the representation giving to Pashtuns in Pakistan. PTM is aggressively trying to transform ethnic identity into a border-redefining project. The debate moves beyond cultural solidarity and into the realm of nationalism, irredentism and state sovereignty. Shared ethnicity does not create an automatic right to territorial unification or override existing state sovereignty. Modern states cannot be reorganized every time an ethnic population extends across an international boundary. The land claimed is not a single ethnic pocket, it is historically shared by Tajiks, Uzbeks, Turkmens, and several other groups. Pushing an ethnic-only claim to the Indus creates dangerous instability, erasing multi-ethnic realities and triggering competing claims over shared land. This is the fundamental weakness of PTM claims, ethnic affiliation as the primary basis of geographical belonging is historically and geographically problematic. Therefore, any such claim raises questions about Pakistan’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, statehood, and International Law. Sovereignty depends upon institutions, citizenship and territorial administration, not upon ethnic homogeneity.
