Stable Regime, Historiography and Truth Commissions A Case Study of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement of Pakistan

Abstract

This article discusses the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement's (PTM) demand for establishing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to facilitate the right to truth of victims of the war on terror in Pakistan. It highlights the tension among the right to truth, geopolitical considerations, and historiography in pursuit of transitional justice under a stable regime. It argues that Pakistan is not likely to establish a TRC due to its geopolitical considerations vis-a-vis Afghanistan. It, however, also underscores that PTM as a pressure group could contribute greatly to realising several human rights based right claims of the war victims, if it disengages itself from the anti-Pakistan Afghan diaspora.