Pakistan's banned PTM: A movement for Pashtun rights

washington — This week, Pakistan banned a grassroots protest movement advocating for the rights of Pashtuns, an ethnic minority inhabiting the country's northwestern region. The government in Islamabad contends the movement, known as PTM, poses a threat to national sovereignty and security, but human rights groups view the move as part of a larger crackdown on dissent. The ban, enacted Sunday under Pakistan's anti-terror law, comes as tensions are mounting ahead of a PTM-planned jirga, or council of elders, on Friday.