The PTM in Catch_22

Naseebullah khan
The main feature of a political party is its organizational setup that further provides a base for leadership, diminishes the chances of internal Tug of war, decreases power struggle, prepares a manifesto for future course of actions, creates discipline, abandons corruption, and is a rudder for future,s progress. All of these have been missing in the Pashtun right movement the PTM (Pashtun Tahafuz Movement). In the initial stages, the slogans of the PTM were so lustering that the organization not only attracted the Pashtun nation as a whole but also grab the notch of international media. Thousands of the Pashtuns across the Durand line alongside many right organizations in Pakistan started supporting the PTM. It has been years that the internal weaknesses of this movement have been nightmares for its survival. Consequently, the PTM has split a year ago when MNA Mohsin Drawer formed its own party the NDM (National Democratic Movement). The main reason of the disagreement between Manzoor Pashteen and Mohsin Dawer was the conversion of the PTM into a political party which Manzoor Pashteen rejected. Unlike a political party, the PTM lacks a suitable organizational setup that has resulted in many crises within the movement. To begin with, the pertinent challenge is the leadership crisis in the PTM. Though, all workers and leaders of the organization agreed upon Manzoor Pashteen as the head of the movement but, the issue on the central and local levels is severe. A Tug of war is continued, where every second local leader in the district level has reservations against the other. The harsh reality has been the allegations of corruption on the local level reflect the vulnerability of the PTM organizational structure. Though it may not be happening at the higher level as for as the local organization of the PTM of my native city is concerned, the local members have been alleging one another for embezzlement. The organization has split in the city for years, whereas owing to the dearth of accountability within the PTM, it is vague as to who is the culprit and who is not. Another dilemma of the PTM is the scarcity of units on the local level. Unlike a political party, the PTM has no organization on the unit level. It has district and provincial coordinators without any democratic norm of voting. The organization lacks a democratic spirit of internal elections as there are no criteria for nominating these coordinators as well as members of the central cover committee. A shocking predicament of the PTM is the lack of discipline in its workers who are loaded with intolerance by using abusive language, especially on social media. They have a huge dearth of reason and arguments during their debate or even campaigning. Naming and shaming of those who have a difference of opinion with the movement and even if someone criticizes, has become a daily routine of the PTM workers. This is awful. While writing this piece, the glittering charm of the PTM has glommed. The reasons for it are the internal power struggle within the movement, paucity of an organizational setup, leadership crisis, and much more. Blaming others for the current downfall of the PTM would be as if running from reality. The movement, that was once a hope for the Pashtun nation___ needs a complete revamping of its organization if it wants to survive. If immediate measures are not adopted, the dreams of thousands of its followers will shatter with a bang.