Media, State Power and Neo-Nationalist Ethnic Movement: the Case Study of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, Pakistan

This paper investigates how counter-insurgency operations in Pakistan's former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) after 2001 fueled a neo-nationalist movement by creating conflict with sensitivities of ethnic Pashtun population. The triangulation of qualitative data collected from three groups of participants explains the emergence and sustained influence of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). The data identify legal and institutional weaknesses that allowed the neo-ethno-nationalism to grow in FATA. The thematic analysis of the interview data and personal observations framed and identified major and subthemes on the theoretical premise of the Clausewitz Trinity. This research work engages semistructured interviews, informal discussions with military personnel and personal observations to collect data to answer the three research questions from June 2023 till December 2024. The findings of this work suggest that PTM emerged as a neo-nationalist movement as a reaction to perceived state use of military means against Taliban and not only because of ethnic identity. The major theme identified which makes this work novel is that PTM as a neo-nationalist ethnic movement demanded rights for Pashtuns within Pakistani constitutional Framework of 1973. A subtheme emerged that PTM turned into a leading socio-political actor through populist rhetoric against state laws and institutions 'popular constitutionalism' via social media and radio.