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In an interview with ANI, Abhinav Pandya, Founder and CEO of the Usanas Foundation, called the Pakistan Army's recent crackdown on peaceful Pashtun protesters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) "state terrorism" and "part of a decades-long policy to crush ethnic identity in the region for strategic gain."
"The violence we are seeing now is not new," said Pandya. "It's an extension of Pakistan's long-standing policy to silence Pashtun voices and erase their cultural identity. What the world is witnessing is state terrorism." According to Pandya, the KPK region holds immense strategic value for Pakistan's military establishment. "This area has become a testing ground for Pakistan's covert operations. It's home to terrorist training camps, drug smuggling routes, and intelligence networks. To maintain control, the Pakistan Army suppresses Pashtun identity and enforces Wahhabi-Salafi extremism to replace the region's secular tribal traditions." Referring to past incidents such as the 2019 Kharqamar massacre and the arrests of peaceful leaders like Ali Wazir, Pandya stated that these are not isolated events but a systemic campaign of brutal repression. "When peaceful activists are shot, arrested, or disappeared, and the world remains silent, it emboldens authoritarianism," he said. Pandya also drew attention to Pakistan's wider ethnic tensions. "Pakistan is an artificial construct born from a failed idea that religion alone could unify diverse ethnicities. The result is visible in the ongoing resistance movements in Balochistan, Sindh, and the Pashtun belt." He accused the Pakistan Army of running a "proxy empire" of jihadist groups such as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Haqqani Network, and Lashkar-e-Taiba. "These groups are not rogue actors. They function under tacit agreements with the Pakistani state. In exchange for controlling regions like KPK, the army permits them to impose Sharia and run operations." Calling Pakistan's treatment of minorities "hypocritical," Pandya compared Islamabad's global claims on Kashmir with its brutal domestic policies. "They cry foul over Kashmir while brutally suppressing Muslims in their own country. Thousands of Baloch and Pashtun civilians have been killed, tortured, and disappeared. Cultural genocide is ongoing, and no one is held accountable." He also criticised international human rights bodies and Western governments for their silence. "Human rights watchdogs are selective. They'll issue statements on Kashmir but ignore Pashtuns and Baloch. Why? Because Pakistan fits into the geopolitical interests of the Western deep state." Pandya concluded by stating that Pakistan's unwillingness to engage in dialogue with its minorities stems from the military's authoritarian and jihadist ideology. "There will be no change until the world recognises Pakistan for what it is, a terrorist state with a uniform." (ANI)
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