Re: Beware Pashtunistan
Here is an article about the 90s situation in Swat. Does this really compare with disturbances in Karachi? Sounds like it was worse but it was handled differently by the Pashtun interior minister of the time because of difference of ethinicities involved. In Karachi, there was no problem with the FC murdering thousands because they were deemed not patriotic, not their own people. In Swat (then and today) we see police, FC and army men refusing to fight their own brethern.
This was a great article. It pretty much highlights the situation of 90s and the proper resolution.
This can not be compared to Karachi because the TSNM situation was based on religion and not ethnicity. Even though TSNM is heavily Pakhtun, the flag of Pakhtunistan did not go up in the 90s. It was an isolated incident, which is NOTHING compared to the urban guerrilla warfare of Karachi where the Govt and the split dissidents factions destroyed the city. Nor can it be compared to the targeting of Islamic scholars by opposing sects in Punjab.
Karachi was a sustained civil war which continued over many years and threatened to permanently destroy the social fabric of the city.
You can't tell me it was worse because I was there and I visited Karachi. The article doesn't mention anything about civilians getting harmed while in Karachi that was not the case. As for the ethnicities of the people involved, all I can say is that Pakistani politicians and army men are no angels across the board.