There was no “PTM” until the end of December 2017 but it was a small group of tribal students led by Manzoor Ahmad Mehsud under the name of “MehsudTahaffuz Movement (MTM)”.
In Dec 2011, Manzoor started expressing his frustration against drone attacks on his personal Facebook profile and accused the then President Asif Ali Zardari (PPP) and then COAS General AshfaqKayani of targeting tribals.
By Sep 2012, Manzoor started showing his interest in raising voices for people allegedly affected by the war in erstwhile FATA and he started asking people to join hands with him for the purpose, although he was still unemployed.
In Sep 2014, Manzoor requested his followers on Facebook to suggest a suitable symbol for his political ideology which he will run from his Tribal Students Organisation at Gomal University.
In Sep 2015, Manzoor started venting his anger against Pakistani security forces and asked his followers to help him organize protest in front of GHQ. This was the first instance of ManzoorPashteen’s confrontationist approach against the state.
In Oct 2015, Manzoor once again shared propaganda against the Army and mocked it by sharing a picture that has nothing to do with operations.
Manzoor and his friends Tribal Students Organisation platform for guiding new tribal students applying for Masters at Gomal University. This was done to gain popularity. Till this time his name as mentioned on the banner was Manzoor Ahmed and there was no mention of Pashteen.
In Oct 2016 it was noticed that the first interaction of Manzoor with Dr Said AlamMahsud, took place who is founder of anti CPEC movement “PashtoonkhwaUlasiTehrik” (Pashtun Awareness Movement) and currently a Core Executive Committee member of PTM.
In Apr 2017: Manzoor gets first coverage on Mashaal from this point onwards, he gains prominence as a symbol of Pashtun ‘resistance’.
In Nov 2017 Manzoor officially appreciated Voice of America Deewa Radio saying it was a primary source for his information.
On 25th December 2017: First time Manzoor wore the symbolic mazari cap. Video was broadcast through Facebook Live by his friend Shahbaz Khan Stouryani’s account who is a longtime ANP activist.
On 31st December 2017: Manzoor came live second time on Facebook wearing the symbolic mazari cap. This time, he went live through his personal account, whereas his previous appearance was through an ANP associate’s profile.
As Gul Bukhari article on PTM was rejected by The Nation so ABBC Urdu (ShafiNaqi Jamie) highlighted censorship of Gul Bukhari’s article did a progarmme on it with her, RahimullahYusufzai and NidaKirmani. The video was shared by Manzoor on his timeline.
On 21st April 2018: Few minutes after sharing the BBC Urdu video, Manzoor posts an update on his timeline, using the words “Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement” personally for the first time. This is was the proof that Manzoor had endorsed the term introduced by VoA and propagated by certain people.
Manzoor shared a post by his old friend Jamal MalyarMomin of Mehmood Khan Achakzai’sPashtoonkhwaMilliAwami Party (PkMAP). Momin was a candidate for PK-113 from South Waziristan under PkMAP’s banner and he was given a PTM-related hashtag.
On 17th October 2018 for the first time Manzoor shared a PTM propaganda post containing the official PTM logo. Interestingly, the logo was used through account of one “Naqeeb Khan”, leader of PTM Denmark.
Article from May 2018 by Abubakar Siddique, Editor of Gandharawebsite promoted PTM and warned Pakistani Army. This article was picked up by Manzoor in Oct 2018. The article interestingly hinted few points which later became part of PTM agenda.
Manzoor shared a video featuring audio by Voice of America Urdu on killing of SP Tahir Dawar in Afghanistan. This shows that all local services of VoA from Pashto to Urdu and English were promoting Manzoor.
24 August 2013: Manzoor posted a photo and tags his friends for comments, which was normal and nothing unusual. Most of those tagged were his class-fellows in Gomal University, DI Khan.
27 August 2013: Manzoor shares a video posted by Facebook page “Waziristan – The Lion’s Den” which portrayed Pashtuns as suffering at the behest of the state.24 May 2014: Manzoor shared another post by Facebook page “Shyreenwaziristan” (which shows children killed in North Waziristan drone strikes.
