Islamabad, Pakistan Pakistan’s government has banned an ethnic Pashtun rights movement that has accused the military of a heavy-handed crackdown on civilians in the border regions with Afghanistan. 

The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), or Pashtun Protection Movement, opposes alleged military abuses during counter-terrorism operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a majority Pashtun region.

The group, which is not a political party, has at its peak pulled tens of thousands of people to largely peaceful rallies demanding better protection from the state. 

A notification issued by Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior on Sunday said the group has been listed as a “proscribed organisation” for being “prejudicial to the peace and security of the country”.

PTM said that more than 200 activists have been arrested in recent days ahead of a jirga, or a council of elders, planned for later this week. 

Criticism of Pakistan’s military — the most powerful institution in the country which holds significant sway in politics — is seen as a red line. 

Pakistani authorities have in recent months attempted to curtail dissent — crushing the street power of jailed opposition leader Imran Khan after he led a wave of criticism against the military and intelligence services.

The government last month also introduced a new protest law that limits gatherings. 

At the weekend, the capital was on lockdown with entry and exit points blocked and mobile phone services cut as Khan supporters attempted to protest.

The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) asked for the withdrawal of the “extreme decision” which was “neither transparent nor warranted”.

In its statement, the HRCP said PTM was “a rights-based movement that has never resorted to violence and always used the framework of the Constitution to advocate its cause”.

PTM has accused the military of enforced disappearances and targeted killings of Pashtun civilians in its sweeping crackdown on militancy.

Pakistan has long grappled with violence in the border areas near Afghanistan, with attacks on the rise since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.

Pashtuns are a distinct ethnic group with their own language, living mostly in Pakistan and Afghanistan but divided by the colonial-drawn Durand Line that splits the two countries.

The country is just days away from hosting several heads of government for a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting, a bloc established by Russia and China to deepen ties with Central Asian states.