Revenge of the Pashtun?

Destroying Pakistan to Make It Safe!!

The big headline seems more like the title for the next summer blockbuster movie, however I am not making this statement just because of the absurdity of the title but also because of the fictitious nature of the content of the article itself (you can read it here).

I read the above article by Mr. Eric Margolis recently. Eric Margolis is no stranger to the readers of the Dawn newspaper, where some of his columns have appeared. I had read Mr. Margolis in the past and generally understood what he had to say, that is, in the past. He has been around for some time now and according to him, he has spent considerable time with the Pashtuns, however I don't think he has understood the Pashtun mind and aspirations very well still and this time he has missed the mark, by a wide margin. I will not go so far as to accuse him of deliberately maligning the Pashtuns or the Pakistan army, or of romanticizing the Pashtun culture, however I will say this, even being in close proximity to the Pashtuns for all these years he has failed to understand how today's Pashtun thinks and looks to his own future. Especially when equating it with the future of his immediate surroundings and the rest of the country.

This article lays bare the writer's ignorance at best and his malice towards the Pakistan army at its worst. I am not a huge fan of the later, let me assure you, but still the narrative needs to reflect the reality that is taking place in Pakistan these days.

I do not profess to speak for all Pashtuns but I can tell you that what I say is the thought of the majority of people who call themselves Pashtuns, weather living in the confines of NWFP or outside. I will try to dispel some misconceptions here.

Pressure from Washington
The first one is the insistence of every so-called consultant, adviser, analyst and/or expert on Pakistan that the Pakistan army bowed to pressure from Washington to go after the so-called 'Taliban'. Various reasons are given for the timing and scale of the operation, the most prominent of them is the threat from Washington of cutting off financial aid to Pakistan. The second one is that the army realized the Taliban have somehow 'suddenly' become an 'existential' threat -to borrow a term from the madam secretary of state. Or the fact that the army suddenly realized that the Taliban could take over Islamabad. No one wants to even hint at the possibility that the army took this step when the public opinion turned against the Taliban, and that happened after the Tehrik-Taliban of Pakistan's (TTP) real intent of exacting control of the area for political gains was exposed by their words (calling democracy, judiciary and political structure in Pakistan as un-islamic) and deeds (read: blowing up schools, committing murder in cold blood, slitting throats of the innocent civilians and thrashing of children). How can any military/security/political expert ignore the fact that such a massive operation cannot be launched at a day's notice? The whole operation was all drawn out and planned in advance, only the timing was crucial, a week earlier and the Pakistani public consensus would have called it too hasty, a week later and these thugs would have spread even further and had committed even more atrocities.

Mistaking thugs for Pashtuns and vice versa
Another assumption that Mr. Margolis makes is that the army is fighting the 'Pashtuns' as a people. These bandits and murdering terrorists cannot be called humans much less a 'Pashtun'. I am surprised that someone professing to be so learned in the way of the 'Pashtunwali' could equate these animals to the proud and honorable Pashtuns.

Pakhtunkhwah
Yet another assumption is that the people of NWFP want to secede from Pakistan and create a separate Pashtunistan. Please be aware that the correct word/term is 'Pakhtunkhwah'. And that too is exclusively used to indicate the province of NWFP. The legality of the Durand line is another subject needing a long discussion but I find nothing wrong in asking for a nameless area like NWFP (North West Frontier Province) to have a proper name. It's like calling New York TBCOEC (The Big City On the East Coast), I bet the New York natives would have a real issue with the 'I heart TBCOEC' slogan. I think it's time we stop calling people secessionists just because they have a genuine and legitimate demand that counters the outdated, orthodox, colonial, and subjugated mentality of the establishment.

Under duress
If we were to agree with Mr. Margolis that the proud Pashtuns are so averse to dictation and ultimatums then can he also explain how come the same Pashtuns accepted the ultimatum given by the TTP forbidding men to shave or even trim beards? Mr. Margolis is right in one assumption though, the proud Pashtun will not accept ultimatums and hence they have rejected these thugs and they have wholeheartedly accepted the military action against the terrorists. The grievance and resentment towards the army action is due to the civilian casualties (I refuse to call it collateral damage, they are not damaged goods, they are human beings) and the displaced people and the hardships they have to face, which, no matter how unavoidable, are still a tremendous tragedy.

View from the south
As for claiming that the rest of Pakistanis (lowland or otherwise) have no love lost for the Pashtuns, I think this is the most disingenuous statement of this article and puts into doubt your claims of knowing what you are talking about. Pashtuns are no less and no more patriotic Pakistanis than anyone else. I am deeply disturbed by this comment and wish the writer hadn't tried to create divisiveness where none exists.

Yes, the poor and the downtrodden need relief, they need quick and fair justice, they need education, and most of all, they need the security in their daily lives. However, they don't want it at the cost of the Sharia forced on them without their say, the kind of perverted and skewed and selective Sharia that had been meted out to them by the so-called 'Taliban of Pakistan'.