Social Sphere Of Pashtun Is Main Target Of Hostile Forces Within And Without – OpEd

Pashtuns are an eminent part of the Pakistani society and have been valiant sons of the motherland who have given unprecedented sacrifices for Pakistan, its people and ideology. On the very initial days of independence in 1947, when war was imposed by the historical and ancestral enemy Hindu India, these brave Pashtuns at the first call to take up arms in defence of the new motherland were the first to lay their lives and liberate parts of Jammu and Kashmir from the deceit of its Hindu ruler and the mischief of Hindu India who had become haughty after being installed in Delhi from where Muslim power in the subcontinent had prevailed for a millennia before the ascendency of the British by treachery.

Pashtuns also historically had served in Muslim armies who dominated India, even the grand trunk road which linked the most eastern part of the Indian subcontinent from Calcutta to Central Asia was conceived by a Pashtun general Sher Shah Suri who envisioned a Muslim empire stretching from the inner most Central Asian Steppe to the jungles of Far East Asia. Later the grand trunk, the first gigantic geopolitical project of mass military and non- military movement of man and material become the bulwark of contention in the great game between the British and the Russian Empires. Strategically speaking all the British military deployments were along the grand trunk road, done to counter the influence and the post 1812 Russian military posture which was poised for the conquest of India and planned by the Imperial general staff of the Tsar to oust the British all along the grand trunk road starting from Amu Dyra which is modern day border of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, by first ceasing control of the north western portion of the grand trunk road (modern day Pakistan, specifically Khyber Pakthunkawa and Potohar region of Punjab) and then later incursions further into the Indian heartland across the Indian plains towards the southern and south eastern coasts. The Tsar in St. Petersburg was quick to recall an ancient Russian saying “Valiant Russian soldiers will wash in the warm waters of the seas at coasts of Russian India”.

During this great game the historical areas of Pushtun tribes came right in the middle of this geopolitical great game between the British and the Russians. Both of these imperial and hardcore colonial powers tried to use the Pashtuns as their proxies. The famous English author Rudyard Kipling who was English ethnically but by sole an ardent Lahori (hence a modern day Pakistani) has written extensively and romanticized the adventures, mysteries and espionage games between the British and the Russians in the historical areas of Pashtuns. Despite being under pressure from two bullies of the day, the Pashtuns were to maintain their independence, some out rightly in the mountains and some in semi feudal structures cunningly playing out the British and the Russians.

With the advent of the 20th century came the advancement in technology which meant that socio-cultural, linguistic and political transformations could be achieved rapidly and unprecedentedly. These transformations which took several generations or centuries to accomplish in the past now could happen in the number of years or even in days if backed by exacerbating the protest potential of the targeted population or an ethnic group with a population. Under these conditions the Pashtuns faced a new threat, firstly from the communists from Moscow and contemporarily now from the western and Indian presence in Afghanistan.

During the Cold War or even before in the intermit period between the first and the second world wars, the communists who had established themselves firmly in the Eurasian heartland were eager and confident to spread this ideology throughout the world either through revolution or through spreading of propaganda socio-cultural propaganda. The Pashtuns being a primordial ethnic group and residing in strategic areas connecting South and Central Asia became the prime targets. What the communist did was to spread the false notion of similarities between Pashtuns and the Russian people based on utter lies. Such as linguistic similarities, cultural similarities, etc. These similarities never existed as the historical evolution of both the races happened in very different geographical and political circumstances. With the Russians originating in modern day Sweden and the Pashtuns whose ethnic origins scientifically are still not confirmed with just oral traditions, either in Khorasan region of greater Persia or in Arabia. These oral traditions with lack of scientific studies were quickly realized by the communist who began disseminating pseudo-scientific publications and propaganda of ethnic similarities. They did this for two reasons, first to gain soft power over the Pashtuns and secondly to instill their political ideals through a Pashtun nationalists political party (which in reality were Stalin’s useful instrument of subversion (within the sociopolitical sphere of the Pashtuns, so when the time would come for the annexation of the Pashtun homeland into the Soviet Union there would be no or minimal resistance. Instead the communist would be welcomed as long lost ancestors. During the latter part of the Cold War, the Americans picked this sinister communist plot and used their subdued ally Germany as a substitute by propagating that Germans and Pashtuns are long lost brothers as a counter measure during the Soviet- Afghan War.

With the advent of the 21st century and the subsequent start of the Global War on Terrorism as a follow up to the lost Global War on Drugs started by Regan, new dynamics and rigor began to appear in the manipulation of the Pashtun social sphere. For just to gain soft power over the Pashtuns and to totally control their hearts and minds towards acceptance of subjugation through first rebellion and destruction of their homeland and secondly through whatever would remain or those who would survive would be so thwarted that they would become powerless and hence ineffective to challenge the ropes of the control system. What now the adversaries are planning is to artificially create reality for the Pashtuns. In this sinister and evil plot from the very prominent personalities to the very obscure are playing the devil’s advocate within Pakistan and also from outside backed by political parties and NGOs who are bent upon to manipulate the primordial social structure of the Pashtuns. In this sinister plot, NGOs are also playing their part by instilling social practices which are alien and utterly unacceptable to historical Pashtun traditions. In the garb of humanitarian assistance, these NGOs are now instilling ideals of changing sexual orientations of the Pashtun youth and children while bent upon destroying the traditional social fabric in the name of gender equality. Majority of the Pashtuns and also other ethnic Pakistanis do not know that those giving lessons on gender equality within their countries and social dynamics women are still fighting for achieving equality. Within EU equal respect, equal remuneration and equal access to public and private goods are still not achieved while in Pakistan these very people are promoting these ideals with their house not in order. This smells of a clandestine plot not understood by the policy maker in Pakistan or who is deliberately a silent observer bought out.

And of course there is old adversary India, who at the moment appears silent but is hand in hand in supporting these clandestine sinister plots against the Pashtuns. Waiting for an opportunity that when the time will come when either soft power over Pashtuns is complete or there is outright rebellion against Pakistan, it will decisively intervene and make it sure that its greater India project is realized.

*Shaikh Muhammad Bilal is an online journalist