Afghanistan And Pakhtuns' Destiny

[khyaal]

If you hold me as a person who is all out to advocate the policy of Pakistani elite towards the Pakhtuns population in Pakistan, then you are awfully mistaken.

But Saifullah brothers, Amir Muqam, Nighat Orakzai, Ali jan Orakzai, Owais Ghani etc. are not Pakistani/Punjabi elite, they are Pashtun politicians who took very strong anti Pashtun stance on vital Pashtun issues related to our identity and our survival as nation.

I believe that Pakhtuns are presently destined to live within artificial geography in Pakistan, which is not their ultimate fate.The imposition of Urdu, rather the portrayal of Urdu as a sacred "Islamic" lanuage was a blatant high-handedness by the then leadership of Pakistan represented by Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan.Bengalis sternly opposed it which gave rise to the eruption of severe language riots in 1952. This was ,in fact the beginning of the end in East Bengal, which culminated in the emergence Of Bangladesh.

But the question is why Bengalis, the real creators of Pakistan, took radical stand and Pashtun leadership compromised over vital national issues, though our case to resist Punjabi imperialism was/is much stronger?

The Pakhtuns have been fragmented in various compartments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA, PATA, Balochistan and Afghanistan under a hatched conspiracy. If they are amalgamated in one geography then they may emerge as a big power of the region. The political and geographical unity of Pakhtun is the urgent cry of the time. This political goal is hanging in the dolldrum, as Pakhtuns are lacking political unison and aspiration.

There is not a single Pakhtun nationalist political party in Afghanistan and the weak Pakhtun nationalist parties in the Pakhtun belt of Pakistan, are engaged merely in the lust for power.

Why there be any Pashtun nationalist party in Afghanistan? Certainly Pashtuns in Afghanistan don't agree with your very premise that they are being exploited and that is why they don’t support such ethnocentric elements.

The case of Pashtuns in Pakistan is much different. The then NAP and now ANP, in my opinion, made compromises or got scared by the very strong military establishment and its intelligence agencies OR they completely lacked political vision. Apparently the NAP/ANP leadership under Wali Khan gradually became softened towards the Punjabi establishment and was not willing to face troubles.

The greatest malady afflicting Pakhtun nation is the unfortunate femine of true leadership.

They are being swept in Balochistan by the strong Baloch nationalism and formidable Baloch leadership

It is not the famine of leadership. Partly it is the control of pseudo nationalists of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who are in the garb of Pashtun nationalists and partly the loyalty factors due to khudai khidmatgaar movement which keeps millions of Pashtuns stick to the platform provided by these pseudo nationalists in the false hope of being their messiah.

Unfortunately the true Pashtun nationalist leadership faces a dilemma here. It not only has to fight the strong Punjabi establishment but also has to struggle against these pseudo nationalists. And the inevitable result will be further polarization of Pashtun society.

As for as Baloch leadership is concerned, you are completely mistaken about the actual situation. Baloch have altogether separate constituencies and separate land and they don’t have any clash of interest with Pashtuns. Baloch land historically is comprised of Qalat States Union and Lasbela, Kharan and Makran. Pashtuns reside in a completely separate Pashtun belt (their twelve districts). And for your information recently the Chairmanship of PONM (Pakistan oppressed nations movement) remained with a very capable Pashtun leader, Mahmood Khan Achakzai. ANP refused to be part of PONM.
Due to the recent insurgency in Baloch belt most Baloch leaders have abandoned political struggle after which PONM has gone into a period of inactivity.

In Afghanistan, they are not only lacking leadership and long term political goal but they also have cultural and educational impediments.

What you call as the lack of leadership is in reality the instability and vulnerability of the State of Afghanistan; the reasons for this lies elsewhere and not within Afghan leadership.

Dr. Najib was a very capable Afghan leader but even he couldn't sustain the tremendous external interference and as a consequence lost his life.

Apart from that I don't think we should much worry about Pashtuns/Afghans in Afghanistan. Our concern should only be the integrity of the State of Afghanistan. The apprehensions you have projected in your posts have mainly been caused by the thirty years long proxy war and not by any ethnic tension which in my opinion is only a hype or part of agenda to weaken the state of Afghanistan.

They are slowly being swallowed by the quagmire of "Parsiban culture".

This is merely a hyperbole and you can't prove that there is a separate Parsiban culture. If there is any such culture different from the dominant Afghan culture then, please, explain to us its genesis and roots.

Punjabis and Parsibans are the usurpers of Pakhtun national interest on both sides of the Durand line.

Your are drawing wrong parallels and extrapolating Punjab's flagrantly hegemonic model in the wrong place. It is in my opinion a rash generalization.

To sustain Punjab's hegemony there is a very strong and overwhelmingly Punjabi dominated civil and military bureaucracy. This is apart from their disproportionate parliamentary majority.
For the assumed parsiban group you can't show us any supporting civil cum military structure or parliamentary majority to support it. You can explain your theory only through palace intrigues. lol

At the time when Pakhtunland has become the arena of the global war, it desperately needs true Pakhtun leadership and clear Pakhtun political vision. The political and geographical unification of the Pakhtuns is a dire need of the time.

I agree with you that Pakistan occupies half of Afghanistan and this part must be re-unified with its parent land, Afghanistan, and yes it requires sincere efforts. For this goal to accomplish Pashtuns to the east of the Durand line have to abandon their dogmatic loyalty with the pseudo nationalists and be vigilant against pseudo intellectuals.

Pakhtuns are in a brute majority in Afghanistan and besides Pakhtun dynasties have been ruling Afghanistan since 1747. It is but a harsh fact that Pakhtuns could not consolidate their national and cultural supremacy in Afghanistan despite their brute majority and long Pakhtun rule.

If external interference is stopped which is a must then afghan society is a very harmonious society so there will be no need for any ethnic group to consolidate its position and make preparations for internal wars.

Pashto is a so-called national language which is practically subservient to Dari which is the language of the minorities on the anology of Karachiwaal Mahajirs.

Urdu was imposed through an official order on the rest of nations in Pakistan. Apart from that you don't have an option for your own language here. Pashtuns in Pakistan are not allowed to use their language in courts of justice, parliament, educational institutions, official correspondence, official documentations etc.

And for your information school children in Peshawar are penalized for using Pashto as language of communication even with their school mates which is unprecedented.

Sorry, but your ethnocentric tendency compels you to wish for a ban on any other language in Afghanistan even though Pashto enjoys the status of national language which I and several other friends illustrated in their posts.

The language of education is Parsi beyond any doubt and official business is being carried out in this language.

Now this is contrary to facts. It depends on ones choice to use any language he prefers. You even didn't believe Dawezai who teaches there in Kabul (btw, I know him personally and he has no reason to lie).

I myself have seen question papers of Kankore (sorry I don't know the correct spellings) tests in Pashto which is a country wide test taken of all students simultaneously. I have seen medical, engineering and history (taught in schools and colleges) books in Pashto. I think you know very little about Afghanistan and most of your writings are based on speculations or hearsay information.

The national anthem is stranded in a row of Parsiban chauvinism in a country where Pakhtuns enjoy absolute majority.

This is a lame excuse to justify your imagined rift in afghan society.

King Zahir Shah introduced only a few army commands in Pashto to appease the Pakhtun population and similar eyewashes have been made for the so-called promotion of Pashto in different times.

lol. This is ridiculous. King Zahir Shah himself a Pashtun/afghan would dupe his own majority population. Here you again consciously or unconsciously are applying Pakistani model where the so-called Pashtun military dictator Ayub khan ruled through the support of Punjabi establishment.

Listen, Ijaz saib! In Afghanistan you can't show us any such invisible and omnipotent power within the hands of your imagined Parsiban lobby which could dethrone or enthrone kings. Kingship in Afghanistan was either hereditary or through a military coup. For the military coup to be successful one again would need full Pashtun support. To get kingship through inheritance one would have to follow traditions set by great Pashtun elders.

The state-run electronic media presents a true spectacle of lingual and cultural hegemony of the language of the minorities.

The state run tv channel RTA has two versions of it. One is kabul based and another Nangarhar based. The one you watch in Peshawar is the Kabul based channel. The Pakistani cable operators perhaps deliberately broadcast the Kabul version which has misled you. As about the cultural hegemony I will again ask you to explain us how your imagined parsiban culture is different from the dominant afghan culture?

Shamshad and Lamar tv are private chanels which are only showing Pashto language and Pakhtun culture.

Doesn't the existence of these channels prove that there no such disparity between different ethnic groups in Afghanistan? This falsifies your own theory.

[Dawezai]

Jasmine, thanks for your kind words. The feeling is mutual.

I'd like to start off by asking Is it true that Pashto is frowned at in Kabul and that Pashtuns are considered a joke along with a few other inappropriate words?

There are some examples of such jokes but these are not only aimed at Pashtuns. I have seen some Pashtuns who look down upon others. Then, the Pashtuns even joke about fellow Pashtuns from different tribes. I don't see this to be a serious issue. In Afghan society, people usually share a lot of ethnic and tribal jokes which add a humorous flavour to gatherings. Some serious ethnic stereotyping is the result of decades of war and instability which will recede once peace and stability are attained.

And you forgot to add Helmand and Kandahar who are both sick and tired of the current state and they are demanding for an independent home-land. I have travelled and met with these people.

Though I did not hear any such news from Helmand and Kandahar but it is understandable as these two are the most trouble stricken areas in Afghanistan. Taliban and their sympathisers will never say anything positive about the state of Afghanistan.

[Dawezai]

if you think some five faced punjabi will ever grant such things you have not yet learned the double dealing face of the punjabi
a punjabi only exists at the expense of others, even their very state is situated on the homes of others

In the context of 'doing politics' one has to have a political strategy. The step-by-step strategy that I have proposed have serious political implications once started and being hampered by the majority in Pakistan. Even if the Punjab is not prepared to let go their authoritarianism, the Pashtun political movement will learn from it and will mature and adjust their strategies accordingly - exactly as the Bengalis did. Whatever our strategy is, we need to target two things i.e., Punjab's hegemony and Pashtuns' political ignorance. War of independence could be fought either when a second powerful state gets involved or when a political movement matures both quantitatively and qualitatively. We, unfortunately, lack both of these.

[eusuphxai]

In support of Khyaal's ideas, I would like to present the following:

The formation of a pure Pashtunistan is not possible for the following reasons:
1. We will need to break up two states, i.e. Afghanistan and Pakistan, to form Pashtunistan;
2. The upper Afghans would never want to divide Afghanistan due to historical, social and spiritual reasons. Why would the Afghans disintegrate a state that they themselves formed? This has been proven historically as well: thirty years of wars could not disintegrate Afghanistan; the Afghans are not even prepared for a federal structure of the state as they were given the choice both in Bonn Conference and later when the first constituent assembly of Afghanistan was formed but the option was rejected on both occasions;
3. The division of Afghanistan is not possible demographically as the two ethnic groups of Tajiks and Pashtuns are interwoven across all Afghanistan forming a mosaic of ethnicities (please refer to the ethnic map of Afghanistan);
4. In Pashtunkhwa there are other ethnicities like the Hindkowans, Gujars, Wakhis, and Chitralis who cannot be separated from the Pashtuns through a magnetic screening.

Pashtun political struggle must, therefore, address the following:
1. Unite the divided Pashtuns (from Khyber Pashtunkhwa, Baluchistan, and Punjab) into a single province;
2. Demand for the right status of Pashto in the united Pashtun province inside Pakistan;
3. Demand for maximum provincial autonomy within Pakistan;
4. Pressurize Pakistan not to interfere in Afghanistan;
5. Support the international community and Afghan government to bring peace, stability and development to Afghanistan;
6. Once Afghanistan is stable and has the capacity and strength to deal with the Durand Line issue, the Pashtun political movement should support Afghanistan.

The cultural annihilation issue in Afghanistan:
This issue is mostly exaggerated by Pakistani agencies and establishment to create rifts between the ethnic groups of a war ridden Afghanistan. Majority of the population in Kabul are Dari speakers but that does not mean that Pashto cannot be found on the streets and roads of Kabul. There might be a slight linguistic issue as well but that is ignorable and will settle once there is peace and stability in Afghanistan. The unification of the upper and lower Afghans in the state of Afghanistan will not only restore the pride and honour of the Afghans back but will also assure the economic and social development of Afghanistan and of the whole region.

the most sensible post ever, dair ala!

edit: On paper it all sound great, but how to do it in reality, example dewazai saib, how will you convince Pakistan=ISI to give Pakhtuns what they deserve? What is the logical approach. Lets say i agree with what you are saying (which I do), what is it that I have to do, to move towards this goal?

[Marwat]

Dawezai how do we battle the ignorance of Pro Pakistanis that love Pakistan. I am from Quetta and everybody here no like Pakistan. We are Afghan.

[Zoroaster]

The cause of human suffering is economic inequality.

The sacred thing in the universe is the dignity of humanbeings.But it is pull down for the sheer passion of chauvinism.The best solution to bring dignity to the fellow beings is to provide them with equal oppertunity of growth and enlightenment, to think above the idea of race,nationality,ethnicity and creed.
In my openion the worship of these false gods put man into the the mouth of the dragon of wars and slaughter.
A socialist and communist revolution or evolution can only redeeem the human race.

The artical of gran yousaf zay sab is purely based on chauvinistc ideals

[Zoroaster]

Don't u think that human dignity is sacred?

Don't u believe in the economic equality of human beings?

Dont u construe the history of man as a battle for economic and national superiority?

[Dawezai]

On paper it all sound great, but how to do it in reality, example dewazai saib, how will you convince Pakistan=ISI to give Pakhtuns what they deserve? What is the logical approach.

The only convincing factor in politics seems to be power - power of the people. As I have said earlier, the approach needs to be two-pronged targeting Punjab's imperialism and Pashtuns' political ignorance. We are not going to convince Pakistan and its agencies but show them our strength and united stand. Leadership can always use diplomatic language by referring to human rights, the right to autonomy (political, economic and social) etc., but leaders need to be backed by the people; the people, in turn, need to be educated and convinced on the overall vision of a political movement. This is where doing politics becomes essential. Pashtun nationalist movement needs to grow both vertically (give a Pashtun the right political ideology) and horizontally (increase the support constituency of the movement).

Lets say i agree with what you are saying (which I do), what is it that I have to do, to move towards this goal?

Problems/issue related to Pashtuns are political in nature and needs a political strategy to sort out; the formulation and implementation of political strategy need political movement; and, political movement needs a political party. We need to study the [Pashtun] political parties and support the one that is in resonance with the Pashtun aspirations.

[Dawezai]

Dawezai how do we battle the ignorance of Pro Pakistanis that love Pakistan. I am from Quetta and everybody here no like Pakistan. We are Afghan.

Marwat saib, 'I hate country A' and 'I don't like country A' are not political propositions. We need to reach people with a political language. It will be extremely hard for us to convince those who love country A if we go to them by proclaiming that we hate country A. Politics and diplomacy are the tools we can use to exchange views with such people.

[eusuphxai]

Problems/issue related to Pashtuns are political in nature and needs a political strategy to sort out; the formulation and implementation of political strategy need political movement; and, political movement needs a political party. We need to study the [Pashtun] political parties and support the one that is in resonance with the Pashtun aspirations.

The two parties I know are ANP and PMAM. I support the later, despite the fact that my family supporting the former.

on a lighter note doesn't this make your brother right?

PMAM= I meant PkMAP.

[Dawezai]

The two parties I know are ANP and PMAM. I support the later, despite the fact that my family supporting the former.

on a lighter note doesn't this make your brother right?

It does!

[eusuphxai]

Still you didn't tell me your choice.

[Dawezai]

Whatever I have written in my first post here is actually the stance of PkMAP.

[PakistaniWazir]

let me mke few important points straight

1) afghanistan is most failed state
2) afghanistan has no intellectul community but full of drug dealing warlords and terrorists
3) government only control kabul and outside kabul ruled by jahilun
4) afghanistan has no identity or respect in the world
5) afghanis r trouble causers and always at state of war mindset
6) ungrateful people who one side curse pakistan but other side beg on streets of pakistan for hand outs
7) afghani army full of drug addcits rapists and corrupted bribe taking officers who mostly are tajiks
8) afghanis never ever fought for side of paksitani pashtuns even when they had chance during india war but stood still a was neutral
9) Pakistani Pashtuns are very patrotic of pakistan even pashtun nationalists prefer paksitan over stateless afghanis
10) if one goes to pakhtunkhwa and say who is afghanis they will say they are immigrant majjars

they say in pakistan

Da Afghanay kho Majaar dai

pakistani pashtuns will never say we are afghanis officially

how can afghanis led pashtuns when if you go to islamabad and when you see areas such as gulshan etc all the poor mud huts and criminal areas all are afghanis who live there

[Toramana]

let me mke few important points straight

1) afghanistan is most failed state
2) afghanistan has no intellectul community but full of drug dealing warlords and terrorists
3) government only control kabul and outside kabul ruled by jahilun
4) afghanistan has no identity or respect in the world
5) afghanis r trouble causers and always at state of war mindset
6) ungrateful people who one side curse pakistan but other side beg on streets of pakistan for hand outs
7) afghani army full of drug addcits rapists and corrupted bribe taking officers who mostly are tajiks
8) afghanis never ever fought for side of paksitani pashtuns even when they had chance during india war but stood still a was neutral
9) Pakistani Pashtuns are very patrotic of pakistan even pashtun nationalists prefer paksitan over stateless afghanis
10) if one goes to pakhtunkhwa and say who is afghanis they will say they are immigrant majjars

they say in pakistan

Da Afghanay kho Majaar dai

pakistani pashtuns will never say we are afghanis officially

how can afghanis led pashtuns when if you go to islamabad and when you see areas such as gulshan etc all the poor mud huts and criminal areas all are afghanis who live there

Son of the Mountains @ PakistaniWazir hahahaha...