On Anti-Pakistan Pashtuns and Pashtun Nationalism

So, I'm getting sick of the whole hatred towards Pakistan, perpetrated primarily by Pashtun nationalists -- not by all but by those who can't figure out what their real purpose for being nationalists is or whose priorities are misplaced. Many with no respect for themselves and other humans (and especially with no respect for other Pashtuns, who love Pakistan) even refer to it as "Porkistan" or "Fuckistan." Really, could one get any cheaper than this? It's often so intense and gets so bitter that it makes me wanna raise a Pakistani flag and yell, "Pakistan Zindabad" (Long live Pakistan), just because there are millions of humans (INCLUDING a majority of the Pashtuns of Pakistan) out there who love Pakistan, who need a country to call their own, to whom Pakistan is more important than their own souls. And they, just like all others claiming to bring justice in their world, are fighting as hard as they can to create a more just Pakistan.

That's not to deny all the crimes that Pakistan has committed -- against the Pashtuns, the Balochis, (the Sindhis?,) the Bengalis, the Kashmiris, and God knows who else. But which country hasn't done the same to its own peoples? And what about all the crimes that the U.S. and Great Britain have committed (not necessarily against the Pashtuns, of course, but many, many other peoples-- including the Pashtuns)? Yet we don't see these Pashtuns hating America or Britain close to as much as they hate Pakistan. Sure, it might be because Pakistan's created hell for the Pashtuns directly and personally, so these Pashtuns feel the effects of Pakistan's crimes far more than they ever would America's or Britain's. But interestingly, many of these Pakistan-haters claim to be humanitarian. What kind of a humanitarian ignores the sentiments of another (an innocent!) human being? The average Pakistani's not the one responsible for what Pakistan does; it's the officials, the leader, the army. And what reason do I have to hate a country for what its leaders are doing? Think of Libya, for instance: Do the Libyans hate Libya for what their leader is doing to them? No. They are trying to get justice by removing him from power. They don't retaliate against their country; they retaliate against their leader.

But! While I say here that the army, in general, has done a lot of bad for Pashtuns, those IN Pakistan, particularly in Swat, actually love the army and support it fully. They are grateful to the Pakistani army for having liberated them from the horrors of  Talibanization during the last few years. I have yet to meet a Swati Pashtun in Pakistan who hates Pakistan or doesn't support it. I've met very, very few Pashtuns of other Pashtun areas who hate Pakistan, and almost all of them happen to be living abroad or are "living" (yes, I really mean living!) in the Internet. I'm terribly sorry for the Pashtuns who love Pakistan and come online to these Pashtun forums and are severely criticized, if not attacked, for holding the views they do, for loving Pakistan, for calling themselves "Pakistani Pashtuns." It's always an unpleasant sight and makes me cringe. One could argue that those living abroad have more access to anti-Pakistan, pro-Pakistan, and impartial sources on Pakistan's history, and, therefore, they are able to make up their own minds whereas, like they claim, the "poor, brainwashed" Pashtuns in Pakistan are deprived of the right to be taught the "truth" about Pakistan, so they looove Pakistan. But I never supported the idea that the only reason people would support something is their lack of "authentic" or "correct" knowledge, or their ignorance of a certain matter.

If these Pakistan-bashing Pashtuns think that this is Pashtun nationalism, then screw it. But fortunately, there's nothing in Pashtun nationalism or nationalism in general that supports or promotes hatred or animosity towards other ethnic/national/religious/tribal groups; I'm a Pashtun nationalist only in that I support the idea of the Pashtuns of Pakistan and Afghanistan uniting under one flag, in that I want for Pashto (instead of Urdu (on the Pakistan side) and Dari/Persian (on Afghanistan side)) to be spoken, taught, promoted among Pashtuns. But it's not like Pashtuns' independence from Pakistan would ever unite them or help them in loving and respecting the Pashtuns of Afghanistan, or accepting each other as EQUALS of one another, so I know it'd be a futile attempt. But either way, I hope that at least my great-great-grandkids will witness their independence from Pakistan, just because I don't think any group should be subjugated by another one. That, of course, ONLY if the majority of the Pashtuns of that time want the independence. Currently, it's not a majority, so I don't support it. We can't fight for "Pashtuns'" independence from Pakistan when very few of them want it for themselves. And, again, no, I refuse to accept the flawed argument that "Look, the only reason they don't want it is that they don't know what's best for them, they don't know what Pakistan is doing to them," etc., etc. Go fool someone else.

You see, Pakistan's existence is a reality, whether we like it or not. There are many Pakistanis, both Pashtun or non-Pashtun,  who are fighting so hard, with so much passion, so much sincerity, so much dedication to enhance Pakistan's image, to ensure that justice is brought in Pakistan, calling for peace and a proper implementation of law. People need a place to call their nation, their country, their history, their pride. The fact that Pakistan is "hardly" 60 years old means nothing to me. Really. At least Pakistanis can claim to have a country, whereas some of us Pashtuns (including me, yes) are only longing and hoping for and dreaming of our own country (or our people's rejoining Afghanistan); I know, I know - some might be like, "Um, excuse me, but Afghanistan is our homeland." Yeah, well go say that to the Pashtuns in Pakistan who consider Pakistan their true homeland.

Now, I acknowledge Pakistan's illegitimate ownership/dominance of the Pashtun regions of Pakistan, since the Durand Line, now the boundary between Afghanistan and Pakistan, was a 100-year contract that was to end in 1993 but didn't (more on this another time, for those who're not familiar with it; for now, feel free to click here for some info and, for the actual document, click here), meaning those areas were to rejoin Afghanistan once the contract was over, but that didn't happen. But that is in no way to suggest that I'm going to curse Pakistan or hope for its demoralization or wish for it to be wiped off the map of the world. If that happens, so be it; but I'm not gonna make ANY effort, verbal or otherwise, for that to happen. In gaining your own rights, no one -- and I mean, NO one, not even Pashtuns -- should deny others' their rights, be they the Punjabis, our assumed gods. If we're gonna infringe on the rights of others, then may we never be successful in getting our own. Aameen.

I officially no longer have any respect left for anyone who calls Pakistan "Fuckistan" or "Porkistan" no matter how "highly" educated she/he might be, no matter what a staunch well-wisher of Pashtuns she/he is, no matter how much she/he claims to be a humanitarian or a socialist or a nationalist. May we never be successful in our efforts to humiliate others solely to better our own image or satisfy our own urges. Why? Because if we want to "educate" the poor misguided and unenlightened Pashtuns who love Pakistan, there's a proper way to do so, or to at least to get them to support your propaganda against Pakistan-- and that way is certainly not to ridicule the country they consider their own!

My point? (Most) Pashtun nationalists take the wrong approach in making their point: They bash the country that the people they claim to be fighting/seeking independence for, the Pashtuns, love to death. This only makes Pashtu...ns hate them and repel them as much as possible, and as long as they don't have the support of the majority of the Pashtuns, they will not succeed in gaining their independence from Pakistan. Most important to me, though, is the fact that insulting Pakistan by naming it Porkistan, etc. will not get us anywhere and only misrepresents Pashtun nationalism as a whole. Now, me, I do not support its atrocities against any group of people, and I don't like consider myself "Pakistani" -- but I do count myself as one when I remember that the strong majority of my people, especially Swatis, love Pakistan and claim Pakistani as their second identity (the first being Muslim). Unfortunately, though, it seems that Pashtuns today are given only two choices: If you consider yourself a Pakistani, it means you support Pakistan's crimes against the Pashtuns! If you don't support it, then you are absolutely prohibited from calling yourself a Pakistani!

What needs to be understood is that my rejecting a Pakistani identity or my not loving the country to bits doesn't mean I hate it or curse it or deny its existence or wish evil upon it. I don't wish evil upon any people and any country. In Pakistan's case, wishing evil against it will mean wishing evil on the millions of Pashtun who love the country. That defeats my purpose of being a Pashtana. I want the best for Pashtuns, yes, of course I do--but I don't want any less for non-Pashtuns, be they Punjabis, and I certainly don't want Pakistan to be washed down the drains of history, any more or less than I wouldn't want our imaginary "Pashtunistan" or our beloved Afghanistan to be washed down the same drains. I believe in justice, yes, I do, but I believe in justice for all.