The Pashtun perspective

[Dota]

Greetings everybody.

I'm obviously new here and the reason I've joined this forum is to gain a better understanding of the Pashtun perspective. I've had numerous Pakistani friends tell me about Pashtun culture but so far everything they've told me seems like a one dimensional stereotype. That all pashtuns are bearded warriors sporting assault rifles ever ready to get into a fight to preserve their honour. I have a couple of specific questions:

1) How do Pashtuns feel about the destruction of the Buddhist statues? Do you view it as the right thing or do you see it as cultural vandalism?

2) My friends vehemently denounce any anti-pakistan sentiment expressed by Pashtuns on grounds that Pakistan has done so much for Afghanistan. That even today, Pakistan provides shelter for Afghan refugees, allows them access to Karachi where Pashtuns can become millionaires. How do you Pashtuns feel about this? Do you believe that Pakistan is your friend? Do you believe their influence on Afghanistan has been positive?

Thank you all for your time.

[Admin Khan]

Hi, welcome. Give me a few, and Ill try to answer your questions. In the mean time, others can chime in.

[randolph85]

hello and welcome.

1. i feel as though the destruction of the statues was completely unnecessary and stupid since it was a relic of the land, but i didn't lose any sleep over it since it was just stone. the worlds attention was on broken stones but disregarded the death and misery of the people living in the same town and in the rest of the country.

2. pakistan is an artificial state created by the west to weaken india on their departure. to imagine that pakistan has done any good for afghans or afghanistan is a joke. most refugee's reside on pashtun land in pakistan to begin with. it was pashtun land before there was a pakistan and it will be pashtun land after pakistan is dead and gone. if nothing else, afghan refugee's have boosted the economy of pakistan with labor and businessmen and whatever help they get is from international agencies and not the paki government. i think pakis need to be reminded that a good chunk of their population come from present day india and were refugees themselves. no afghan in their right mind would ever say paki influence on them and their country has been positive. hell, paki influence hasn't even been positive on native pakistanis.

[Dota]

most refugee's reside on pashtun land in pakistan to begin with. it was pashtun land before there was a pakistan and it will be pashtun land after pakistan is dead and gone.

Very interesting; I never thought of it that way. Well, that's what I'm here for, to get the Pashtun perspective. I was also told by many Pakistanis that Afghans who wish to travel to the west generally apply for a Pakistani passport and that Afghans owe their mobility to Pakistani generosity. But based on what you said I suspect this is nonsense too.

[Toramana]

Mr Dota, it would have been better had you revealed your background i.e., the country you are coming from. As for your query, the mainstream Pakistani media and elite/intelligentsia has been doing that to be-fool the world especially the Western public and elite. It is an disingenuous way of camouflaging its covert (Pakistan's) war against US-NATO and ambitions vis-a-vis Afghanistan and India.

Investigate the ethnic basis of Jehadist movements like Jaish-i-Mohammad, Lashkar-i-Toiba, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Hizbul-Mujahideen, Harkatul Mujahideen, etc. and you would come to know that these are Punjab-Kashmir based groups. Moreover, Jehadi ideologues and architects like Zia-ul-Haq, General Hamid Gul, General Javed Nasar, etc. are also Punjabis.

They are propagating the same stereotypes against Baluchis to maintain their stranglehold over Baluchistan and to suppress Baluch aspirations for greater rights.

[Dota]

My apologies. I'm a Canadian citizen of Indian origin. I'm also Muslim [not very practicing though]. I don't know a whole lot about Afghan culture or Pashtuns since I don't know any in real life. Which is why I'm here. A lot of Pakistanis are self elected spokespersons for everything Pashtun, which is what brought me here to begin with.

[Toramana]

The following article will be useful as well.

For more than a thousand years the Afghan nation, and Pashtun tribes in particular, have resisted all foreign efforts of domination. Efforts by great empires have failed to suppress rich Pashtun culture and traditions, created during ancient Silk Road trading, the Jirga, language, art, music, song, poetry, dance, sports, food, humor, hospitality, etc... What great empires have failed to do is now being attempted by a late-comer, mini and sham-empire -- a collection of disjointed provinces known as Pakistan.

Pakistan, using its indoctrinated proxy Taliban, has insidiously and perniciously forced the greatest damage to the identity, society, culture, traditions and posterity, of the Pashtuns. On the pretext of "Jihad", the Punjabi dominated Pakistani establishment has steadily reduced and de-Pashtunized the proud Pashtun community into pawns on the strategic ch....

http://www.examiner.com/article/afghanistan-de-pashtunization-of-pashtuns-by-taliban-and-pakistan

[din]

pashtun is the afghan. so pashtunkhwa afghans not refugee its the their land.manana.

[KGODB]

Greetings everybody.

I'm obviously new here and the reason I've joined this forum is to gain a better understanding of the Pashtun perspective. I've had numerous Pakistani friends tell me about Pashtun culture but so far everything they've told me seems like a one dimensional stereotype. That all pashtuns are bearded warriors sporting assault rifles ever ready to get into a fight to preserve their honour. I have a couple of specific questions:

1) How do Pashtuns feel about the destruction of the Buddhist statues? Do you view it as the right thing or do you see it as cultural vandalism?

2) My friends vehemently denounce any anti-pakistan sentiment expressed by Pashtuns on grounds that Pakistan has done so much for Afghanistan. That even today, Pakistan provides shelter for Afghan refugees, allows them access to Karachi where Pashtuns can become millionaires. How do you Pashtuns feel about this? Do you believe that Pakistan is your friend? Do you believe their influence on Afghanistan has been positive?

Thank you all for your time.

1. No one except an inbred ignorant animal would be happy at the destruction of those statues. I personally broke with the Taliban when they commited that act

2. Its 2012, and Afghans/Pashtuns have woken up. We realize the mistakes we have made, and the crimes commited against us. Were we appreciative of Pakistani support in the 1980s when we didnt know better? Sure. Now? Very few nationalist Pashtuns have anything nice to say about Pakistan. It is by far, our greatest enemy

[pashtanajan]

1) How do Pashtuns feel about the destruction of the Buddhist statues? Do you view it as the right thing or do you see it as cultural vandalism


The destruction of the Buddhist statues was a cultural vandalism, and it was a historical/ancestral relic that shouldn't have been destroyed. It greatly disheartens me to see a hole in place of the large Buddha that had once stood there, carved so beautifully. It truly showed the talent and love for art that our ancestors had. And Art is what keeps people of a nation hopeful and strong, in my opinion.

2) My friends vehemently denounce any anti-pakistan sentiment expressed by Pashtuns on grounds that Pakistan has done so much for Afghanistan. That even today, Pakistan provides shelter for Afghan refugees, allows them access to Karachi where Pashtuns can become millionaires. How do you Pashtuns feel about this? Do you believe that Pakistan is your friend? Do you believe their influence on Afghanistan has been positive?


I don't have anything against the people (innocent people) of Pakistan, per say. However, the government of Pakistan has brought great trouble to Pashtuns on both sides of the border. The refuge and shelter that had been given to the people of Afghanistan and is still given is in areas known as NWFP (now known as Pakhtunkhwa) where Pashtuns have existed for centuries, hence the people who had given some of their land to the Pashtuns seeking refuge from Afghanistan perceived them as their own kin. Therefore, it wasn't "Pakistanis" per say giving the Pashtuns land to live on, it was the Pashtuns on the other side of the border.

The government of Pakistan hasn't done much in terms of giving food and shelter to the the refugee Pashtuns that have settled in areas of NWFP and Pashtun indigenous areas, it is the Pashtuns and mostly NGOs (organization not associated with the government, such as the red cross) that helps these refugees.

I don't believe the influence of Pakistan has had any kind of positive influence on Pashtuns. The Pakistani government has not only separated the Pashtuns, and has been detrimental to their culture and language, but has created terrorism in Pashtun lands (Pakistan was instrumental in the creation of the Taliban), therefore the Pakistani government has played a great part in creating the state that Pashtuns are in today.

And the Pakistani government has wronged not only Pashtuns, but its own people as well (Panjabis etc.) by building madrasas and indoctrinating the future of Pakistan (Pakistani children and youth), spreading propaganda, and by making the poor poorer and making the wealth richer. I'm sure even most educated Pakistanis do not hold positive views for their own government.

So —no— in conclusion, the Pakistani government (not its people) is not our "friend". I believe they don't have the best interests in mind for Pashtuns.

P.S— I keep on mentioning the Pakistani government, because I've noticed that Pakistanis feel offended when I say "Pakistan this and Pakistan that". I'd like to make it clear to any Pakistani reading this that I'm not pointing my finger at you (unless of course you've done something wrong, lol), but your government. So, please don't feel offended.