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| Despite the resolutions' passage, the backlash in the right-wing press and conservative supporters of ] in ] in particular was intense. The issue was then addressed at the Federal level as a formal renaming could only be done through a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds majority. Nawaz Sharif, under pressure from the right wing of his party and outside, backtracked on his previous commitment. In an attempt to save the alliance, Sharif made efforts to resolve the issue by instead offering a compromise name like Nuristan or Abasin. The offer was rejected by the ] leadership and the ANP withdrew from the Federal and provincial governments . | Despite the resolutions' passage, the backlash in the right-wing press and conservative supporters of ] in ] in particular was intense. The issue was then addressed at the Federal level as a formal renaming could only be done through a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds majority. Nawaz Sharif, under pressure from the right wing of his party and outside, backtracked on his previous commitment. In an attempt to save the alliance, Sharif made efforts to resolve the issue by instead offering a compromise name like Nuristan or Abasin. The offer was rejected by the ] leadership and the ANP withdrew from the Federal and provincial governments . | ||
| == Views on the issue of Pak-Afghan border: == | |||
| Following independence, the NWFP voted to join Pakistan in a referendum in 1947. However, Afghanistan's loya jirga of 1949 declared the Durand Line invalid as they saw it as ex parte on their side since British India ceased to exist in 1947 with the independence of Pakistan. This had no tangible effect as there has never been a move to enforce such a declaration. Additionally, world courts have universally upheld uti possidetis juris, i.e, binding bilateral agreements with or between colonial powers are "passed down" to successor independent states, as with most of Africa. A unilateral declaration by one party has no effect; boundary changes must be made bilaterally. Thus, the Durand Line boundary remains in effect today as the international boundary and is recognized as such by nearly all nations. Despite pervasive internet rumors to the contrary, U.S. Dept. of State and the British Foreign Commonwealth Office documents and spokespersons have recently confirmed that the Durand Line, like virtually all international boundaries, has no expiration date, nor is their any mention of such in any Durand Line documents. (The 1921 treaty expiration refers only to the 1921 agreements.) | |||
| Afghanistan was created in 1747 AD by the Punjab-born (city of Multan in present-day Pakistan) Pashtun named Ahmed Shah Abdali. The fact is Abdali conquered the Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Baluchis, Punjabis, etc. This was a forceful occupation of various lands/peoples subdued to the Abdali monarchy. Per Encyclopedia Britannica, "Ahmad Shah began by capturing Ghazni from the Ghilzai Pashtuns, and then wresting Kabul from the local ruler. In 1749 the Mughal ruler ceded sovereignty over Sindh Province and the areas west of the Indus River to Ahmad Shah in order to save his capital from Afghan attack. Ahmad Shah then set out westward to take possession of Herat, which was ruled by Nadir Shah's grandson, Shah Rukh. Herat fell to Ahmad after almost a year of siege and bloody conflict, as did Mashhad (in present-day Iran). Ahmad next sent an army to subdue the areas north of the Hindu Kush. In short order, the powerful army brought under its control the Turkmen, Uzbek, Tajik, and Hazara tribes". | |||
| Now many people can argue that Afghanistan's creation was illegal because the land belonged to Iran-based Safavids/Sassanians/etc and India-based Mughals/Mauryas/etc until Abdali's creation in 1747 AD. But the fact of the matter is people and its lands constantly evolve to new geo-political environments changing boundaries and nationhoods. Prior to 1747 AD, the region of Afghanistan was ruled by Persian Achaemenians and Sassanians, Greeks, Scythians, Hepthalites, Arabs, Turks, Mongols, and many others (currently by the USA). Mauryas and Mughals ruled a large portion of Afghanistan (almost all of Pashtun areas). By the way, the Muslim rulers of South Asia were "mostly" Turks originating from Central Asia who also ruled the Pashtuns. | |||
| Afghanistan's creation was legal in the same way Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, etc. were created later on. The boundaries between Iran and Afghanistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan/Uzbekistan/Turkmenistan, etc were created by the British and Russians. So the few Afghans beating the drum of Durand Line (Pak-Afghan boundary) is pointless. By the same token, all boundaries of Afghanistan are questionable. Why should only Pashtun areas of Pakistan be merged to Afghanistan? Afghanistan is a multi-ethnic country like Pakistan. Should Tajikistan lay claim to Tajik lands of Afghanistan, Uzbekistan to Uzbek lands in Afghanistan, Turkmenistan to Turkmen lands in Afghanistan, etc.? | |||
| The ethnicity-based countries like Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, & Turkmenistan have much more stronger claims to Tajik, Turkmen, & Uzbek lands of Afghanistan because Afghanistan is a multi-ethnic country like Pakistan, so a multi-ethnic Afghanistan has no right to claim only Pashtun lands of Pakistan. How about Pakistan claiming Pashtun lands of Afghanistan instead since Pashtuns are being oppressed in Afghanistan, Pashtuns in Pakistan are comparatively much more prosperous, and Afghans are desperate to flee to Pakistan. By the way, Pashtuns are not the only ethnic group divided between two countries, e.g. Azeris are divided between Iran and Azerbaijan, Tajiks between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, Uzbeks between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, Turkmens between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, Balochs between Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, Kurds between Iran, Turkey, Iraq and Syria, Arabs between many different countries, etc. | |||
| If Durand Line of boundary is artificial, then not only Pashtun lands of Pakistan, but "all" of Pakistan should merge to Afghanistan because the "original" Afghanistan included today's Pakistan and Afghanistan. And if Durand Line of boundary is artificial then how valid are the boundaries between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, etc.... or all countries of Middle East (Sykes-Picot treaty).. created by former European colonialists such as the British, French, and Russians. Lets not forget the "Great Game" on how the Brits and Ruskies created Afghanistan's boundaries as a buffer zone between them. We know how the Russians (Soviets) created Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan... "In 1886 a Russian army fresh from its conquest of the Oasis of Merv, in today’s Turkmenistan, occupied the Panjdeh Oasis near Herat. It was also the time of The Great Game. Britain immediately warned Russia that any further advance towards Herat would be considered as inimical to British interests. As a consequence of the May 1879 Treaty of Gandamak after the Second Afghan War, Britain took control of Afghanistan’s foreign affairs. After the Panjdeh incident a joint Anglo-Russian boundary commission, without any Afghan participation, fixed the Afghan border with Turkestan, which was the whole of Russian Central Asia, now Kirghizistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Thus as a consequence of the competition between Britain and Russia, a new country, the Afghanistan we know today, was created to serve as the buffer." .....Now on the Afghan-Iran boundaries created by the British/Russians, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, "In 1863 Dost Mohammad retook Herat from Iran with British acquiescence.... The boundary with Iran was firmly delineated in 1904, replacing the ambiguous line made by a British commission in 1872". | |||
| In 1947 and beyond the Congressite followers of Badshah Khan continued to ask the Gandhi question "The Pathans should have had a choice between Afghanistan, Pakistan and India". The Muslim League had correctly argued that the British had no right to ask that particular question, since they did not ask Nagaland if it wanted to join Burma, nor did they ask Tamil Nadu if it wanted to join Sri Lanka. Thus the Durand Line became the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. | |||
| Knowing the bitter enmity between Tajiks/Hazaras and Pashtuns in Afghanistan, Tajiks/Hazaras will never allow Afghanistan to become 75% Pashtun (from 40%) by only integrating Pashtun areas of Pakistan. The current Tajik-dominated Afghan govt has been oppressing Pashtuns in Afghanistan. In fact there are Tajik bigoted nationalists who are fiercely anti-Pashtun/Afghanistan: http://members.tripod.com/~khorasan/Miscellaneous/why.html And when the Afghan Pashtuns ruled Afghanistan under Taliban they massacred thousands of Hazaras in Mazar-e-Sharif, and others. | |||
| The word Afghan in the past might have meant Pashtun, but that meaning evolved to another one. Today, an Afghan is defined as only a citizen of present-day Afghanistan regardless of ethnicity. There are countless other examples on how a word's meaning evolves to a different one over time. | |||
| NWFP of Pakistan is not all Pashtun, large areas of this land are Hindkowi, Shina, Khowari, Gujjar, etc. most linguistically related to Punjabi. Majority of Baluchistan is Baluch who also have bitter rivalry with the Afghans and do not want to be part of Afghanistan. | |||
| Millions of Pakistani Pashtuns inhabit in the provinces of Punjab and Sindh such as cities of Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad... not to mention millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Since the 1980s the Durand Line has been a porus line for men and material. During the Soviet occupation of Western/Northern Afghanistan, some portions of Eastern/Southern Afghanistan (at least the Pashtun portions) literally became part of free Afghanistan, a satellite of Pakistan. 6 million Afghans came to Pakistan as refugees. More than one million Afghan children were born in Pakistan. | |||
| Pashtuns have much more in common with Pakistanis than with Afghans (plus there are much more Pashtuns in Pakistan than in Afghanistan). Pashtuns are linguistically Indo-Iranian. Pakistanis are 99% Indo-Iranian whereas Afghans are only 84% Indo-Iranian. Punjabi, Sindhi, Baluchi, Kashmiri, Urdu, Pashto, & Dari are Indo-Iranian languages which means they are related to each other and have a common origin. About 16% of Afghans are linguistically Altaic such as the Uzbeks, Turkomens, etc. These Altaic Afghans are linguistically distinct and unrelated to the Indo-Iranians. Additionally, Pashtuns are racially mostly Caucasoid. Pakistanis are also mostly racially Caucasoid (mixed with a little Dravidoid blood). On the other hand, Afghans are only 66% Caucasoids. Hazaras, Turkomens, Uzbeks, etc. are mostly Mongoloid by race. | |||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 17:41, 17 September 2006
Pakhtunkhwa or Pashtunkhwa (Pashto: پښتونخواه) is a name used historically by Pashtun leaders for the Pashtun areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. More recently it has been used by Pashtun nationalists in Pakistan as the name with which they would like to rename the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).
While the concept was first mentioned in the twentieth century by Khan Abdul Wali Khan and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. The Federal government views the claim with suspicion as a front for a secessionist movement.
Zia-ul-Haq agreed with Bacha Khan to change the name but he contended that the term Pashtunistan had become controversial. Bacha Khan suggested Pakhtunkhwa. But, again, some hitch was created and Zia-ul-Haq asked Bacha Khan to suggest another name. In response, Bacha Khan wrote a letter (in Pashto) to the President to give up his efforts if he was so constrained.
Within the NWFP Provincial Assembly the first party to table a bill for the renaming of NWFP was the Pakistan Peoples Party NWFP chapter under Aftab Khan Sherpao. Sherpao cleverly exploited the renaming issue to cause a split between the Awami National Party and its right wing allies (traditional opponents of the ANP's ethnic politics and in particular renaming). The bill failed to pass in its first attempt but the issue did anger opponents in the party of the ANP's alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League (PML). The ANP leadership, however, cited its lack of a majority in the provincial assembly and how the issue has not been placed as part of a formal agreement with the leader of the Muslim League Nawaz Sharif as a reason for the bill's failure to pass. Prior to the 1997 general elections, the ANP obtained a formal commitment from Nawaz Sharif on the renaming issue as part of their pre-election political/electoral alliance.
After the alliances victory in the 1997 elections, the PPP under Aftab Sherpao again tabled a bill for a resoluiton on the renaming issue in the provincial assembly. The issue was eventually taken up by the Assembly in the latter half of 1997, and after a brief debate the NWFP Assembly speaker Hidayatullah Chamkani called the issue to a vote asking those members opposing the issue to stand up. This move caught the Muslim League members offguard as they had already decided they would not support the renaming issue. The Pakhtoonkhwa resolution , was supported by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Jamiat Ulema -i- Islam (JUI) (F) while the PML abstained. It was opposed only by two members both Pakhtuns - from the PML (J) Salim Saifullah and Humayun Saifullah (Yusufzai, 16 November 1997).
Despite the resolutions' passage, the backlash in the right-wing press and conservative supporters of Nawaz Sharif in Punjab in particular was intense. The issue was then addressed at the Federal level as a formal renaming could only be done through a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds majority. Nawaz Sharif, under pressure from the right wing of his party and outside, backtracked on his previous commitment. In an attempt to save the alliance, Sharif made efforts to resolve the issue by instead offering a compromise name like Nuristan or Abasin. The offer was rejected by the Awami National Party leadership and the ANP withdrew from the Federal and provincial governments .
References
Yusufzai, Rahimullah , "A Dream Half-Fulfilled," The NEWS (16 November 1997).
See also
External links
Pashtunkhwa- A Development Framework
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