Pashtun Nationalism in Pakistan
The question of Pashtun nationalism in Pakistan dates to the establishment of the country, and before that to the rule of British India. In its contemporary state, Pashtuns in Pakistan are the second-largest ethnic group in the country. Though citizens, Pashtun activists have always raised concerns and criticized Pashtun marginalization and second-class citizen status in the country (Boggs 2012). The most recent, On January 26, 2018, Pashtun Tahfuz Movement’s[1] leader Manzoor Pashteen organized its first sit-in in dera_e_ismail khan, Khyber Pukhtawnkha, Pakistan, to protest the killings of a Pashtun shopkeeper who was killed by police forces in Karachi, Pakistan (Hassan 2018). Since then, the movement has grown and garnered the support of millions of ethnic Pashtuns in the country (Ahmad 2018). PTM’s main goal is to defend and champion the rights of ethnic Pashtuns that are marginalized, kidnapped, and killed by the Pakistani army in northwestern Pakistan (Ahmad 2018, Shah 2020). The movement also gained the support of Pashtuns in Afghanistan and prominent Pashtun political figures and diaspora around the world (Shah 2020). With this movement, a new wave of Pashtun nationalism in Pakistan has begun. A movement that seeks Pashtun rights and protection under the constitution of Pakistan. By utilizing constructivist perspectives, I attempt to argue that there have been three types of attempts at Pashtun nationalism in Pakistan, those who wanted independent Pashtunistan, those who wanted greater Afghanistan, and the last which wanted equal rights and protection for Pashtuns under the Pakistani constitution. Thus, in this paper, I explore the question of Pashtun Nationalism in Pakistan, and how the discourse of Pashtun nationalism has changed and evolved? Thus, I begin by providing a background to Pashtun nationalism in Pakistan, and only then attempt to present theoretical analysis to answer the aforementioned question.
Background:
To begin with, it is important to understand how Pashtuns became a minority group in the contemporary geography of Pakistan. The issue of Pashtuns in contemporary geography dates back to the Anglo-Afghan wars in the 19th century when British forced Afghanistan to give up on certain of its lands, and the Durand line was drawn (Boggs 2012). The Durand line effectively divided ethnic Pashtuns into two groups: those that stayed inside contemporary Afghanistan, and in the North-Western Frontier of British India, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region (Boggs 2012). Although, the majority in Afghanistan, Pashtuns were one of the minority groups in British India, yet they were left autonomous for some of the aforementioned period under British rule (Schofield 2011). When in 1947, the All-India Congress accepted the partition plan, Pashtuns opposed this creation as Pashtun leaders including Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan protested that Pashtuns have no desire to join Pakistan (Boggs 2012). This can be marked as the first instance of Pashtun nationalism in the history of Pakistan.
The second important phase of Pashtun nationalism happened immediately after the establishment of the Pakistani state, when prominent Pashtun leaders in the country, struggled for irredentism. These efforts also backed by the Afghan government, by not recognizing Pakistan, aimed at rejoining Afghan territory and establishing a greater Afghanistan (Saikal 2010). Or, establishing a Pashtunistan region that was directly under the influence of Afghanistan giving it a favorable position and access to the Arab Gulf and the Indian ocean (Saikal 2010). This phase in the Pashtun nationalism project also had proponents and supporters both within Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Pashtun minority groups.
The third phase, though begun in the aftermath of the failure of the former, rose to immediate prominence with the Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM) in 2018. PTM spearheaded by Manzoor Pashteen in Waziristan rose to prominence with its slogan of non-violent resistance and peaceful protests have become the voice of ethnic Pashtuns in Pakistan (Shah 2020). The 9/11 attack and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan by the United States and its allies subjected ethnic Pashtuns across the border to harsh treatment by the Pakistani government and the Afghan government (Saikal 2010). Thus, a series of military operations, both by the Pakistani military and the United States in the tribal areas and Waziristan have so far killed thousands of Pashtuns in Pakistan, and a series of military presence and the mistreatment of Pashtuns in these areas have become the main reasons for the emergence of PTM (Shah 2020).
How Pashtun Nationalism has evolved in Pakistan?
Nationalism as a concept like that of the nation is hard to define, and no two scholars may present the same definition (Kecmanovic 1996, 15). Though, for this paper, I adhere to the definition that nationalism refers to the feeling of a group belonging to a certain area that has common culture, language, origin, history, and traditions (Kecmanovic 1996, 15–16). In this sense, and as presented briefly above, the three phases of Pashtun nationalism in Pakistan can be analyzed through the lens of constructivism. The first and foremost the question of irredentism, and greater Afghanistan, the question of Pashtunistan, and the later of minority rights and integration represents different discourses in the narrative of Pashtun nationalism. Although all three discourses have coexisted with each other throughout the history of contemporary Pakistan, each has prevailed over the others in certain periods of the history of Pakistan.
The first discourse hugely relies on the core principle of shared identity and history, that Pashtuns have shared before their split by the British imperial forces. This discourse was very prominent and had supporters both within ethnic Pashtuns in Pakistan, and Afghanistan and Afghanistan’s government in its earlier phases (Bezhan 2015). From a constructivist standpoint on nationalism, it can be argued that in light of common history and political identity as “Afghans”, the discourse shaped in this phase of Pashtun nationalism in Pakistan and Afghanistan garnered its support based on the value of common origin and national identity. However, this discourse has lost its support both among ethnic Pashtuns in Pakistan and in Afghanistan due to political instability. While the Pashtunistan discourse garnered its prominence, this also was had a strong supporter base in Pakistan and Afghanistan (Bezhan 2015). This discourse was supported by separatists that primarily wanted an independent state for ethnic Pashtuns. In this sense, the argument presented by scholars that “nations are fluid and manipulable categories articulated through nationalist narratives and symbols in politics and society.” (Wicke 2019)”, is more relevant as the main appeal was to Pashtuns based on their ethnic identity, language, culture, and tradition.
Though Pashtuns have remained quiescent for most of the Pakistani history with mild nationalist movements, the integration of Pashtuns into Pakistan has more or less been successful. This is evident in the PTM’s appeals for justice, equality, and rights under the Pakistani constitution (Shah 2020). Although this discourse has existed and been the prominent nationalist discourse in Pakistan, the emergence of PTM and its activism for minority rights have made it prominent that garnered the support of ethnic Pashtun both in Pakistan and Pashtun diaspora around the world.
Conclusion:
To sum up, Pashtun nationalism in Pakistan has been prominent since the creation of the Pakistani state. Though at times, the discourse of the nationalist movements in Pakistan has shifted based on political realities. From a constructivist standpoint, all these discourses have garnered support among ethnic Pashtuns both in Afghanistan and Pakistan with notions and nationalist appeals of common identity, origin, culture, and language. However, the most prominent of those can be divided into three phases, the first phase in Pashtun nationalism predominantly relied on the discourse of common origin and identity of “Afghan” and the identity of “Pashtun” and Pashtunistan while the latter relied on minority rights.
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[1] Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM) is an activist organization, championing and defending the rights of minority ethnic Pashtuns in Pakistan.