Bacha Khan International Airport

[tor_khan]

The flipside to your arguement is that a sociaty that cannot protect it´s achievements will be colonized and subjugated, specially in modern times where the number of your population doesn´t really matter.

India´s non-violent struggle was that general strikes and their huge population number. They ruined the Brit´s economic gains.

What can Pashtuns do if an army is standing at their gates?

Strength comes from within. Pashtun´s division is based on lack of interaction between the main Pashtun population blocks of Loya Kandahar, Loya Paktia and Loya Mashreqi regions.

Badscha Khans movement led Pashtuns in KPK into slavery.
It doesn´t matter how a slave feels peaceful inside, he is subjugated, mentally and physically.

I see your point about the numbers being significant and the Pashtuns in mashreq do not appear to work with their maghrebi counterparts.

That said, becoming locked into a 30+ year war seemingly without end has turned us on each other and we have ourselves become a nation of refugees who exist on charity and other people's intervention. Bacha Khan's movement was primarily about motivating Pashtuns to lift themselves out of dependence through community activism, self-help, faith and brotherhood. For a while it worked, and worked well.

He did not sleep-walk his people into slavery; rather he warned Pashtuns about becoming dependent on the power of those in the Panjab and allowing our said trigger-happy spirit coming back to haunt us.

Our glorious warrior past is all very romantic, but it is just that, a past without the solutions for a peaceful and progressive future. We Pashtuns don't have many contemporary heroes to name an airport after, so Bacha Khan is important, particularly given his treatment in Pakistan.

As for the American jingoists who type in coloured italics without ever being able to complete a whole line, saying that they would never want to fly into Peshawar 'ever', frankly I couldn't care less if that sort never walked amongst Pashtuns again.

[Admin Khan]

I agree that this act will not put food on the table for Pukhtuns. However, I don't understand how this is perceived as a "terrible act". With all due respect, can someone educate me on how the intentions behind naming the airport can somehow be deemed malicious? Bacha Khan died for Pashtun unity, and even his kabar speaks volumes.

[emkhan]

There is nothing wrong in naming the airport on his names as punjab and sindh if full of benazir and nawaz and others hospital names. But this should not be the priority.
12 hours load shedding of power has halted the business activities in pukhtunkhwa and the domestic life of the people has also badly disturbed by this.
The inflation is talking to the skies and so many other problems. The ANP should focus on those main problems of the people.

[MostafaM]

Bacha Khan's movement was primarily about motivating Pashtuns to lift themselves out of dependence through community activism, self-help, faith and brotherhood. For a while it worked, and worked well.

He did not sleep-walk his people into slavery; rather he warned Pashtuns about becoming dependent on the power of those in the Panjab and allowing our said trigger-happy spirit coming back to haunt us.

Our glorious warrior past is all very romantic, but it is just that, a past without the solutions for a peaceful and progressive future. We Pashtuns don't have many contemporary heroes to name an airport after, so Bacha Khan is important, particularly given his treatment in Pakistan.

As for the American jingoists who type in coloured italics without ever being able to complete a whole line, saying that they would never want to fly into Peshawar 'ever', frankly I couldn't care less if that sort never walked amongst Pashtuns again.

I don´t really get how he unified Pashtuns by recognizing the international borders of Pakistan and dividing Pashtuns into two blocks.
That´s the sole reason for Pakistan´s strategic interest in Afghanistan: the unresolved problem of Pashtunistan and Baluchistan.

Should we accept that?
Should we stay silent that Bacha Khan did that for a governmental post?

He soon realized his bad choice but it was too late.

The next bad choice was to alligne his party with the Communist Block instead of staying neutral. We all know what that meant for the Pashtuns in Pakistan: the Pakistani establishment fueling religious radicalisation to counter left-leaning ideas of the ANP.

We see the results in KPK: 75% of the Pashtuns are hardline Islamists and 25% day-dream about Socialism. Taliban bombing ANP gatherings, ANP getting close to PPP, Talibans getting used by ISI etc.

These are clear cut facts that I mention and not my interpreted version of the truth.

Where did Bacha Khan´s decision lead the Pashtun people?

And should we forget the banners of the ANP in Peshawar where they called Afghan refugees to return to Afghanistan after their villages got bombed?
Should we neglect Bacha Khans meetings with Karmal, Najib ?

Our so-called "trigger happy" natur is a big problem.
And I am not a person who dreams about our warrior past or whatever.
Wars are not heroic, people get killed and families get destroyed.
But I value freedom more than a life in shame.

For me Bacha Khan will never be a hero.

The Achekzais who openly call themselves "Afghans" in parliament and critisize Pakistani involvement and crimes against could be called heroes.

For the Baluchs the Marri and Bugti are heroes, because they don´t surrender.

I can´t respect him because he wanted to be buried in Afghanistan.
I would have respected him if he had done anything substantial for the Pashtuns there.

This whole "lar aw bar" talking while drinking tea with ISI-generals is not what our nation should forget.

[emkhan]

I don´t really get how he unified Pashtuns by recognizing the international borders of Pakistan and dividing Pashtuns into two blocks.
That´s the sole reason for Pakistan´s strategic interest in Afghanistan: the unresolved problem of Pashtunistan and Baluchistan.

Should we accept that?
Should we stay silent that Bacha Khan did that for a governmental post?

He soon realized his bad choice but it was too late.

The next bad choice was to alligne his party with the Communist Block instead of staying neutral. We all know what that meant for the Pashtuns in Pakistan: the Pakistani establishment fueling religious radicalisation to counter left-leaning ideas of the ANP.

We see the results in KPK: 75% of the Pashtuns are hardline Islamists and 25% day-dream about Socialism. Taliban bombing ANP gatherings, ANP getting close to PPP, Talibans getting used by ISI etc.

These are clear cut facts that I mention and not my interpreted version of the truth.

Where did Bacha Khan´s decision lead the Pashtun people?

And should we forget the banners of the ANP in Peshawar where they called Afghan refugees to return to Afghanistan after their villages got bombed?
Should we neglect Bacha Khans meetings with Karmal, Najib ?

Our so-called "trigger happy" natur is a big problem.
And I am not a person who dreams about our warrior past or whatever.
Wars are not heroic, people get killed and families get destroyed.
But I value freedom more than a life in shame.

For me Bacha Khan will never be a hero.

The Achekzais who openly call themselves "Afghans" in parliament and critisize Pakistani involvement and crimes against could be called heroes.

For the Baluchs the Marri and Bugti are heroes, because they don´t surrender.

I can´t respect him because he wanted to be buried in Afghanistan.
I would have respected him if he had done anything substantial for the Pashtuns there.

This whole "lar aw bar" talking while drinking tea with ISI-generals is not what our nation should forget.

True... ANP is bunch of munafiqeen enjoying the govt posts under the cover of ISI and army. The day the spoke a single word against the policies of ISI, they will be kicked out of the govt and many of them will be shot dead thats why they have kept quit.

[Catya Sher]

"As for the PACIFISTS-PEACENIKS who hark back to the era of pro-Soviet types
who would never stand up and fight"....

I would like to ask how many ARTICLES YOU have published in major
international newspapers and magazines before you make jabs
about not writing a whole line ?

You are not particularly articulate in my opinion, so knock off the rude
insults.

The choice of top moderators here leaves something to be desired....

I have already explained my willingness to drop everything in my life
to go help the Afghan Mujahideen fighting the Red Army occupation.
I can't imagine YOU doing that -- and for free? No payment? No benefits,
not even a frequent flyer reward ? [PIA did not have that program when
I flew it regularly to Peshawar...and essentially lived there during the 1980s
in order to best report the true situation of both the war itself in Paktia
and Paktika Provinces, as well as many subtle Communist moves to alter
Afghan society and infiltrate KP ---

VIA this same repellent ANP !

None of you remember this, but the ANP was sheltering
a genuine terrorist group, led by Morteza Bhutto. Yes
Benazir's brother.

I interviewed members and reported on this sinister group.

So the ANP was at that time linked quietly with Al-Zulfikar,
all under Soviet guidance probably.

I have excellent reason to hate the ANP !

I doubt you, tor_kahn, were more than a toddler at that time.
I would say from your spoiled adolescent air
that you have NOT grown up much since then!

[tor_khan]

"As for the PACIFISTS-PEACENIKS who hark back to the era of pro-Soviet types
who would never stand up and fight"....

I would like to ask how many ARTICLES YOU have published in major
international newspapers and magazines before you make jabs
about not writing a whole line ?

You are not particularly articulate in my opinion, so knock off the rude
insults.

The choice of top moderators here leaves something to be desired....

I have already explained my willingness to drop everything in my life
to go help the Afghan Mujahideen fighting the Red Army occupation.
I can't imagine YOU doing that -- and for free? No payment? No benefits,
not even a frequent flyer reward ? [PIA did not have that program when
I flew it regularly to Peshawar...and essentially lived there during the 1980s
in order to best report the true situation of both the war itself in Paktia
and Paktika Provinces, as well as many subtle Communist moves to alter
Afghan society and infiltrate KP ---

VIA this same repellent ANP !

None of you remember this, but the ANP was sheltering
a genuine terrorist group, led by Morteza Bhutto. Yes
Benazir's brother.

I interviewed members and reported on this sinister group.

So the ANP was at that time linked quietly with Al-Zulfikar,
all under Soviet guidance probably.

I have excellent reason to hate the ANP !

I doubt you, tor_kahn, were more than a toddler at that time.
I would say from your spoiled adolescent air
that you have NOT grown up much since then!

Why would the 'number of ARTICLES' written by me for major international newspapers and magazines be of relevance to this conversation, which is about the naming of an airport after an important figure? Amongst the Pakistani establishment, Bacha Khan is still considered a national traitor, so actually it is significant that there has been enough pressure exerted for the name to be applied. It shows that there are still those who value his message. I can say that without being a communist an ANPite, as I am neither.

If calling me a 'Peacenik' is supposedly an insult, let me share something else. If you and I were in a closed room with a blunt instrument; one of us would leave quietly, dusting off his jacket; the other one would need to be carried out with assistance. You are right, I am not that 'articulate'. Nor am I a very good pacifist.

[Shehbaz Khan]

Like Zardari named the Islamabad Airport as 'Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Airport' .. so is the case of ANP it's renaming things.. The Pabbi hospital in the town of Mian Iftikhar Hussain is now named as Mian Rashid Hussain Shaheed Memorial Hospital :S

[Ghorzang]

With all due respect to Bacha Khan, his name is just being used by the ignorant slaves of Pakistan, ANP. Whatever respect he has at the moment in that region is because he was the grandfather of Asfandayar and father of Wali Khan. Was he any better than Rahman Baba, Khushal Baba or other such personalities. There is Khushal Maina, Rahman Maina, Khushal baba high School and Rahman baba high school in Kabul. What have they (ANP) named after them?

I have mentioned this in the past, if it is up to our brothers in Pakhtunkhwa (ANP in particular), they would name everything after Bacha Khan and Khyber - it was in one of these Pashtun forums about few years ago. Look around us, that is exactly what is happening - (Bacha Khan trust, Bacha Khan foundation, Bacha Khan Airport, KHYBER Pakhtunkhwa, Khyberwatch, Khyber TV etc).

I am not saying that I am absolutely against these name changes, but seriously, what the hell are we gaining from all this? I would have been more glad if they had written the name in Pashto, "د پېښور نړيوال هوايي ډګر - د باچاخان نړيوال هوايي ډګر".

They should stop wasting years and decades on such minor name change issues. Instead, ANP + PKMAP should put extra effort on some more serious and important problems of our people; like making Pashto the official language of all the Pashtun regions, building more schools, creating jobs etc, building roads, improving health standards etc. Both Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are the least developed provinces of Pakistan.

[Shehbaz Khan]

Exactly. The current ANP is just using the names of many people like Bacha Khan, Wali Khan and Ajmal Khattak etc.

[Levanaye Zalmaye]

With all due respect to Bacha Khan, his name is just being used by the ignorant slaves of Pakistan, ANP. Whatever respect he has at the moment in that region is because he was the grandfather of Asfandayar and father of Wali Khan. Was he any better than Rahman Baba, Khushal Baba or other such personalities. There is Khushal Maina, Rahman Maina, Khushal baba high School and Rahman baba high school in Kabul. What have they (ANP) named after them?

I have mentioned this in the past, if it is up to our brothers in Pakhtunkhwa (ANP in particular), they would name everything after Bacha Khan and Khyber - it was in one of these Pashtun forums about few years ago. Look around us, that is exactly what is happening - (Bacha Khan trust, Bacha Khan foundation, Bacha Khan Airport, KHYBER Pakhtunkhwa, Khyberwatch, Khyber TV etc).

I am not saying that I am absolutely against these name changes, but seriously, what the hell are we gaining from all this? I would have been more glad if they had written the name in Pashto, "د پېښور نړيوال هوايي ډګر - د باچاخان نړيوال هوايي ډګر".

They should stop wasting years and decades on such minor name change issues. Instead, ANP + PKMAP should put extra effort on some more serious and important problems of our people; like making Pashto the official language of all the Pashtun regions, building more schools, creating jobs etc, building roads, improving health standards etc. Both Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are the least developed provinces of Pakistan.

I agree with you.. but I still think that this was a good decision. The man was vilified in the eyes of his own people for decades - Pashtuns were made to hate Bachaa Khan and other Afghan heroes by the Punjabi education system. Even for practical purposes, it makes more sense for airports to be named in English.

As for the uplift of Pushtunkhwa's economy and society, the ANP government has initiated various programs. Of course, development doesn't just happen in 3 years, especially if a foreign war is going on in your backyard but the foundations for many programs have already been laid down.

For example, industrial growth in Pushtunkhwa is going to be increased to double-digits by 2015. Various deals have been struck with the World Bank and USAid to help uplift the local economy and help all those that have been affected by the military operations and the 2010 floods. The ANP government has also made plans for introducing Pashto as the language for primary education (though I don't know how far this has been implemented). At least 6 dams are also being built in KP. So it's not like they've just been sitting around and doing nothing. Yes, a lot has gone wrong with the ANP but they shouldn't be dismissed altogether.


Sources:

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/26/kp-growth-plan.html

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/27/investment-council-for-kp-fata-planned.html

http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/10/world-bank-to-help-revive-kp-fata-businesses-2.html

[Levanaye Zalmaye]

Badscha Khans movement led Pashtuns in KPK into slavery.
It doesn´t matter how a slave feels peaceful inside, he is subjugated, mentally and physically.

Mostafa, you couldn't have missed the mark by a greater margin.

Bachaa Khan wanted Pashtuns to be independent. In 1947, he demanded an independent Pashtun state. But he was let down by his fellow Pashtuns who were fooled by the Muslim League's pseudo-Islamic propaganda and supported the Muslim League and abandoned Bachaa Khan.

Then in 1979, the Punjabis played another great trick. They used Islam again but their aim this time was not to enslave just Pashtunkhwa but they wanted to destroy the mother-country Afghanistan itself with Israeli and American weapons. And they succeeded. Now the land between the Amu and the Abaseen belongs to everyone but Pashtuns.

"As for the PACIFISTS-PEACENIKS who hark back to the era of pro-Soviet types
who would never stand up and fight"....

I would like to ask how many ARTICLES YOU have published in major
international newspapers and magazines before you make jabs
about not writing a whole line ?

You are not particularly articulate in my opinion, so knock off the rude
insults.

The choice of top moderators here leaves something to be desired....

I have already explained my willingness to drop everything in my life
to go help the Afghan Mujahideen fighting the Red Army occupation.
I can't imagine YOU doing that -- and for free? No payment? No benefits,
not even a frequent flyer reward ? [PIA did not have that program when
I flew it regularly to Peshawar...and essentially lived there during the 1980s
in order to best report the true situation of both the war itself in Paktia
and Paktika Provinces, as well as many subtle Communist moves to alter
Afghan society and infiltrate KP ---

VIA this same repellent ANP !

None of you remember this, but the ANP was sheltering
a genuine terrorist group, led by Morteza Bhutto. Yes
Benazir's brother.

I interviewed members and reported on this sinister group.

So the ANP was at that time linked quietly with Al-Zulfikar,
all under Soviet guidance probably.

I have excellent reason to hate the ANP !

I doubt you, tor_kahn, were more than a toddler at that time.
I would say from your spoiled adolescent air
that you have NOT grown up much since then!

Please take your vicious lies and your witchery elsewhere. We Pashtuns do not want your war, we do not want your bombs and we do not want your guns. We want peace, we want schools, we want hospitals, we want our education to be in our mother tongue and we want modernization.

Do you not see what your glorious Jihad did to Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989 and then from 1992 to 2001? It turned an otherwise stable state into the most wretched and destitute patch of land in the world! It has also turned FATA into a barren wasteland where the light of education has been snuffed out by your evil hatred for good and our children are still taught that they should become suicide bombers for an unknown cause instead of being educated and decent citizens who contribute to their society.

Please take your war-mongering to wherever you really belong. We want peace.

[khushal]

Im going to have to go with mostafa on this one. the man divided pashtuns more than united pashtuns. a great example is that he sided with the soviets who killed more than 1.5 million of his people.
The panjabis never feared this man because he was the frontier ghandi. what the frontier needed was a frontier ahmed shah baba or a frontier khushal khan baba. someone tto fear.

[khushal]

Do you not see what your glorious Jihad did to Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989 and then from 1992 to 2001? It turned an otherwise stable state into the most wretched and destitute patch of land in the world! It has also turned FATA into a barren wasteland where the light of education has been snuffed out by your evil hatred for good and our children are still taught that they should become suicide bombers for an unknown cause instead of being educated and decent citizens who contribute to their society.
.

put blame where blame is due. you need to blame the soviet invasion for that

[Afghanistan2010]

I remember when soviets were coming,my uncle and other relatives of our province hiding themselves in corn fields...in that ambush the russians returned not a single bullet they thought we were making peace with them and their dead soldiers were filling the road side.

Alhamdulillah how we crushed the communists,it is just sweet to remember these days.