Grandfathers

Because of the distances presented by my parent's migration to England, I didn't grow up with either of my grandfathers and only saw them during a trip to Pakistan when I was still in first school. I have fading memories of my maternal grandfather, Ghulam Nadir, and some almost equally blurred images of my paternal grandfather, Ali Akbar.

My father's grandfather went by the fine name of Arsalaan and his father was Ras Gul, and so it continues. They are mostly known by their singular names (Khan and Gul as honorific titles) at a time when hard records were not always kept. It's important, however, to have knowledge of your past and this thread is dedicated to that important patrilineal lineage of grandfathers.

 

Tor_Khan تور خان

Click here and here to read more.

اختر مو مبارک شه

اختر مو مبارک شه
لر او بر مو مبارک شه
حساب شی په حاجیانوهم غازیانو روژی مو شه قبولې
دا صبر مو مبارک شه

اختر مو مبارک شه
لر او بر مو مبارک شه
د هوا په لور وچته والوتلي دا د هسکو غرو د پاسه

  لوی وزر مو مبارک شه

اختر مو مبارک شه
لر او بر مو مبارک شه
چی درد پکی لرې په غم د وروڼو داسی زړونه هم

  ځیګر مو مبارک شه

اختر مو مبارک شه
لر او بر مو مبا رک شه
چی کتل په یوه قیسم کړی د وروڼو

داسی سترګی او نظر مو مبارک شه
 

اختر مو مبارک شه
لر او بر مو مبارک شه
لر او بر خو کور د پښتونخوا ده ټول پکی ځای شوی

 دا ټغر مو مبارک شه
 

اختر مو مبارک شه
لر او بر مو مبارک شه
په تاسی چی د زړه مینه راوړی

 داسی زړونه هم بشر مو مبارک شه
 

اختر مو مبارک شه
لر او بر مو مبارک شه
هم د لر او هم د بر شوی

 دا د وصل جوړ بندر مو مبارک شه
 

اختر مو مبارک شه
لر او بر مو مبارک شه
ادیبان او شاعران به تا سره وی

 دا دعلم په میدان کی لوی لښکر مو مبارک شه
 

اختر مو مبارک شه
لر او بر مو مبارک شه
لټون درته سلام او احترام کړی

 ای پښتونه وروره دا خبر مو مبارک شه
 

اختر د مبارک شه
لر او بر د مبارک شه

داود لټون

جنګونه ودروئ

 جنګونه ودروئ
* * *

ای د جنګ غاړو دا روان جنګــــــــــــونه ودروئ
دا د افغــــــــان په وینو ډک سینــــــــدونه ودروئ

ترڅـــــــــــوبه هره ورځ روانې جنــــــــازې وي دلته
د خـــــــــــدای په پار دا ناروا قتلــــــــونه ودروئ

ولې دبل په لمســون خپل ښکلی وطن ورانوئ؟
په خپل وطـــــــن کې د جګـــــړې اورونه و دروئ

د کونډو رنډو یتیمانو غږ اسمــــــــــــــــان ته رسي
نور مو په کليــــــــــــــــــو راروان بمـــونــــه ودروئ

زمـــــــــوږ د خاورې هر قـدم په هــدیرو ډک سوی
بس کړئ ، وطن کې په هر کور غمــــــونه ودروئ

تر څو به دا وطن سوزیږي د جـــــــګړو په اورکې
جنـــــګونــــــــه ودروئ دا مـــرګــــــــــونــه ودروئ

د وطن مــــــــــوردی چې ځوریږي دبچو په ویرکې
نور دې ویرجنې وطــــــــــــن مور دردونه ودروئ

* * *
حفیظ الله خالد
ویانا / ۷ /۹/ ۲۰۱۰

Pashtunkhwa Zindabad

Pashtunkhwa Zindabad by Abdullah Muqurai



Dedicated to all.
Brought to my attention by a friend and a visitor to these pages.

Tor_Khan تور خان

Who and Why?

The Hidden Enemy

Universal Primary Education is one of the Millenium Development Goals. I could write much more on this, but consider the picture here, taken from the BBC. It shows an outdoor school in an unidentified Pashtoon area. This, unfortunately is the plight of many Pashtoon children. These are the children who will, of course, shape the future.

In an earlier posting, I said I would return to this topic, so here goes. A report on BBC Pashto some weeks back began with:

په پېښور کې د اپريل په ١٩ مه نېټه د يوۀ ښوونځي د باندې چاودنه وشوه ، دا لومړى ځل نه و چې په خيبر پښتونخوا ، قبايلو يا د افغانستان په جنوبي ولايتونو کې ښوونځي په نښه کېږي

On April 19th in Peshawar, there was an attack on a school. This is the not the first time this has happened to schools in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, the Tribal Areas or the southern provinces of Afghanistan.

The question that was asked was:

پښتني سيمو کې ښوونځي څوک خرابوي او ولې ؟

Who* is attacking schools in Pashtoon areas, and why?

The responses to the question spoke of an "enemy" working to prevent Pashtoon educational progress. Who this enemy is - was not really identified, so the question about who* is behind the attacks remains. Fingers continue to point, but without knowing who the enemy is, can it be possible to begin to work out a solution?

For me, as an educationlist, and a Pashtoon, this is particularly troubling.

خادم الافغان- کابل
څرګنده ده چې د پښتنو د ښوونځیو سوځول د پښتنو د دښمنانو کار دی. دوی نه پرېږدي چې پښتانه له تعلیم برخمن شي

Khadim Al Afghan - Kabul

Apparently, the buring of Pashtoon schools is the work of the enemies* of the Pashtoons. They do not want Pashtoons to be educated.

حکيم الله ـ هندوستان
دوی د پښتنو په سيمو کې ښوونځي سوځوي، ځکه چې پښتانه يووالی نه لري، دوی نالوستي او د افغانستان دښمنان دي، دوی په دې کارونو سره امتياز اخلي

Hakimullah - India
They* can burn schools in Pashtoon areas because the Pashtoons are disunited and they* are the enemies of [ending] illiteracy and Afghanistan. It is to their* advantage to do this.

*whom exactly?

Tor_Khan تور خان

Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa پښتونخوا

The announcement today to rename the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) to one of the names preferred by the Pashtoons is welcome news. There is still some debate about the nature of the name, but for now, Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa خیبر پښتونخوا is a name that represents a break from the colonial past when the territory was split by the British colonialists from Afghanistan and incorporated within the empire as the north west frontier of British India and a buffer to Russian influence.

پښتونخوا زما وطن
Pukhtoonkhwa, zama watan
Pukhtoonkhwa, my homeland

Tor_Khan تور خان

Worn Down By Bloodshed

Some days, I am sadder than others. When, oh when, will this all end?

The number of people killed in militant attacks in Pakistan is fast approaching 600 in just three months.

At least 88 people have been killed by a suicide bomb attack at a volleyball court in the troubled north-west of Pakistan.

Militants have attacked both "hard" targets, including army or intelligence offices, and "soft" ones such as markets or the crowd that was hit in Friday's bombing.

The latest attack killed more people than any other since a bombing at a market in Peshawar left some 120 people dead on 28 October.

From the BBC.

Swat Diary: 'A New Beginning'

Adapted from the BBC.

I have one great desire ...

Bacha Khan

Peshawar, NWFP has been in the news for several weeks as it burns in the face of a continual onslaught of violent attacks. This is just one such story. Who is responsible? The militants? Covert government agencies? External or internal? To be honest, it matters less, when people are in fear - when stepping out to go about your daily business becomes a matter of taking the greatest of risks.

Here, I share an e-book from Google Books, Non-Violent Soldier of Islam by Eknath Easwaran on Bacha Khan's majestic struggle for justice. This is my candle for peace for all people affected by violence.

Tor_Khan تور خان

The Flowers of Bajaur (2)

Larsha Pekhawar ta kameez tor mala rawra
Taza taza guloona dre saloor mala rawra - da Bajaur guloona

Part 2 of Samar Minallah's Da Bajaur Guloona.

Tor_Khan تور خان

The Flowers of Bajaur (1)

Larsha Pekhawar ta kameez tor mala rawra
Taza taza guloona dre saloor mala rawra - da Bajaur guloona

Travel to Peshawar to bring me back a black shirt
Fetch me some flowers - flowers from Bajaur

Samar Minallah, an independent young film-maker beckons to a call of distress from her ancestral Pukhtunkhwa. To identify the horrors of war, she made a documentary on the wretched state of refugees, rendering them 'homeless in their homeland'. Da Bajaur Guloona is a 25 minute film, that opens with kaleidoscopic landscapes of the fabled land and a heartbreaking commentary by the people of Bajaur.

Tor_Khan تور خان

History and Folklore

Sir Olaf Caroe's 1957 narrative on the Pashtoons digs into the historic and folkloric orgins of the Pashtoon people. It is sometimes held as the compendium of Pashtoon history and origin. The book, known as "The Pathans", reflects the language of its time and whilst other major events have occurred in the Pashtoon lands since the book was written, the contempt/admiration of the Pashtoons is something that continues till today.

Technology allows us to read these archives online - click on the picture above for the online reading option. Alternatively, download your PDF copy of the book here.

Tor_Khan تور خان

Kabir Stori - کبیر ستوری

I share a poem هر انسان مين دی* by Dr Kabir Stori (ډاکټر کبیر ستوری) Pashto scholar and psychologist, born in Khas Kunar, Afghanistan in 1942. Kabir Stori, a follower of Bacha Khan's non-violent philososphy of national unity spent his adult years teaching in Germany. He died in 2006 and was laid to rest in his native Kunar. His list of writings include research papers on psychology and his Pashto literary works are modern classics, that have inspired many contemporary Pashto artists.
هر انسان مين دی* = everyone loves

که زما ستوری په قبر چيرته راغلي
-
په پښتو راته دعا کړه پري مين يم
If you come to Stori’s grave sometime,
Pray for me in Pashto, because I am a lover of Pashto

Tor_Khan تور خان

A Lesson in Pashtunwali (پښتونوالی )

Melmastia

Up to 85% of people displaced by the war in Malakand are not in refugee camps. They have been taken in by host families acting on a code known as Pashtunwali, which shapes the behaviour of Pashtoons. It places critical importance on hospitality and the sheltering of guests, melmastia; it is the same principle, in a dark irony, that has prompted Pashtoon communities in Afghanistan and Pakistan to host al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, long past the point that this became a rash and destructive thing for them to do. The humanitarian crisis in Pakistan, the biggest in the world right now, has attracted only a minuscule amount of help. The United Nations says it has just a third of the $500 million it needs to care for the displaced; other aid agencies report even greater shortfalls.

“We can barely meet the basic humanitarian need right now – access to water and sanitation,” said Graham Strong, a Canadian who heads the World Vision program in Pakistan. “People need food. People need shelter. One family I met put 90 people in two rooms.”

There is a predictable scramble to provide tents and food across 27 refugee camps. However, it is much more difficult to reach those who have gone to what are called “host families,” even though their needs are every bit as urgent. Mr. Strong called theirs “an invisible emergency.” The host families strain their own often-limited resources to feed and clothe the new arrivals. Most, Mr. Strong noted, were poor to begin with.

“It's amazing that these families are taking this on,” he said. “I can't think of anywhere else you would see two million people displaced and they go to families.”

In this case, the Pashtunwali code has bailed out the weak Pakistani government, which seems not to have anticipated the human flood that surged away from its military operation, and had neither funds nor facilities to respond.

Responsibility

Mr. Strong and others in the aid community are struggling with the question of who is responsible. “Conflicts are always harder than a natural disaster, but this one is exponentially harder,” he said of his weeks of largely fruitless pleading for more resources. “Is it because there are perceptions that this is a mess of their own making? It is not of their own making. The two million displaced are not responsible for the fighting between government and insurgents.”

تور خان

Adapted for this blog.
For original article see: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1203684/

Waziristan: Pashtoon Country

With the US-backed Pakistan war on militancy now shifting attention to Waziristan, it seems ever more appropriate to mention this song here in this blog. I first heard this when Nazia Iqbal played this song to an enthusiastic Waziri crowd in Abu Dhabi in February this year. With a little digging around, I've come across an earlier popular Musharraf Bangash version of the song, Waziristan da Pukhtano Watan De. Dedicated to the ordinary folk.

Waziristan da Pukhtano Watan De
Waziristan is Pashtoon Country


Warra zwaanan ye de ghairat nishaani
Da nangyalo, da shah zulmo watan de
Qurban qurban me sar au maal sha warna
Waziristan da Pukhtano watan de

Da khpela khawre gadha girde manum
Kho da dukhman de para daal yaadegi
Pa Pukhtunkhwa ke na pa tola duniya
Da doyee kamal da doyee jalaal yaadeygi
Che sar tattee nakra zda pa umar
Da seekhaghal aw azmaro watan de
Qurban qurban me sar au maal sha warna
Waziristan da Pukhtano watan de

Da tor tor ghroona e gawa da ghairat
Da mohabbat pa ke chenee joregi
Monga bachi da daaghi kharri khawre
Zamonga dalta afsaani joregi
Da stergo tor de zre takor de zema
Da masomano gulalo watan de
Qurban qurban me sar au maal sha warna
Waziristan da Pukhtano watan de

Mong da Pukhto da shuja'at nishani
Monga majboor yu da Islam da laasa
Zamong pa zmaka ke owrruna bal de
Da khog Islam da inteqaam da laasa
Husn walarg wata pa khuley de warka
Da shno paslo, da sangaro watan de
Qurban qurban me sar au maal sha warna
Waziristan da Pukhtano watan de

Masoom aur mazey ehteram kawauma
Da lwarr tareekh ta salaam kawauma
Zamung watan de amanat zamunga
Za ye pa hara barkha paam kawuma
Pa ma shireen de pa ma gran alamma
Ka de azgho, ka de nizgho watan de
Qurban qurban me sar au maal sha warna
Waziristan da Pukhtano watan de

Warra zwaanan ye de ghairat nishaani
Da nangyalo, da shah zulmo watan de
Qurban qurban me sar au maal sha warna
Waziristan da Pukhtano watan de

تور خان

If You Give Me Two Options ...

Nazia, refugee from Swat, now residing in Canada, "If you give me two options: to be sick or to be killed," she says, "then for sure I will choose not to die."

Tor_Khan تور خان

The Beast Within

What you have here is a BBC report on the spread of Taliban influence in Pakhtunkhwa suggesting that only 38% of NWFP and FATA areas is under government control.

The immediate reaction to this when it was put out was one of vehement denial by President Asif Ali Zardari who was in London meeting with PM Gordon Brown negotiating an aid package.

The BBC continues, asking:

Is the Pakistan army serious in its objectives?

There have been a lot of questions raised about the commitment of the Pakistan's security establishment. In particular, the role of the country's powerful but shadowy Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency has been the subject of much debate.

Most of it is focused on the agency's relationship with the Taleban. The Taleban were very much a creation of the ISI as part of the army's doctrine of 'strategic depth'.

This doctrine saw Afghanistan as a friendly satellite that would give Pakistani forces geographic strategic depth in case of war with its perennial rival India and its much more powerful military.

The army also saw the Taleban as an instrument in Pakistan becoming a player in the new great game for energy resources in Central Asia. While post 9/11, the country ostensibly threw in its lot with the US, many believe the army and the ISI continue to secretly support the Taleban.

While all Pakistani authorities deny this on the record, many senior security personnel have admitted some support to the Taleban. They point to the growing influence of India in Afghanistan, and say Pakistan cannot allow this 'encirclement' as it directly imparts on its national security.

I should add, that it was the President's late wife, Benazir Bhutto who in her tenure as PM gave the initial green light to the Taliban when they came prominence in Afghanistan back in 1994. Denial or irony?

... verses from a distance ...

In my trawl through blogs of interest, I came across Mariam Jaan who has written an impressive collection of poems on Pashtoon/Afghan related issues. She captures the pride and the passion of what it is to be Pashtoon, looking at difficult contemporary issues and past nostalgia. I detect a printed anthology about to happen soon, InshAllah.

I have a couple of favourites, so I'd like to share a moment of her brilliance. The message of course, is central to the art.

"A Pashtun" by Mariam Jaan

When a Westerner thinks of a Pashtun, a terrorist is all they see
They have no idea of how romantic and chivalrous he can be

If you were to search all the world you will never be able to find
A man whose guests are treated so honorably and so kind

A Pashtun is a warrior, a poet, a lover, a politician all rolled into one
They have such soft hearts despite carrying around a loaded gun

No one loves to see the beauty in life more than Pashtun males do
For the sake of love there is no torment he won't gladly suffer through

He is proud of his history and remembers every hero's name
And he would rather sacrifice his life than live a life of shame

Whether gazing at his beloved, a beautiful flower or a starry night
His honor is on his mind and for that he's always ready to fight

Thank you Mariam Jaan, for allowing me to share.  تور خان

"Peace" in Pieces

The Swat peace accord looks like it is now in tatters. Whilst on a visit to the US, President Asif Ali Zardari said that Pakistan wanted to "eliminate the militants ... this is an offensive - this is war." Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani reaffirmed the intention to "eliminate militants and terrorists" from Swat. Contrast this with a recent statement from the same government when it claimed that the Taliban was no threat - it is amazing what a trip to Washington can do for a country.

Mass Exodus Following Fractured Peace

I spoke with a cousin two days back and army shelling is happening around the villages that we are connected to in lower Swat. The exodus has begun ...

From Al Jazeera English:

A humanitarian crisis is looming as hundreds of thousands of civilians flee fighting between the Taliban and government troops in the Pakistan's northwest. Officials of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday said that about half a million people have been displaced by the fighting in the Swat valley in the last few days. Ariane Rummery, a spokeswoman for the UNCHR, told Al Jazeera that they had witnessed a "great many families arriving from Swat. I was in one of three refugee camps that the UNHRC has helped set up and people were arriving on trucks, rickshaws, cars, buses - any way that they can travel - and they were arriving very, very distressed," she said.

The latest exodus brings the number of people displaced in the region by sustained violence over the last few months to a million, UNHCR officials said.

From the BBC:

As jets and helicopters pounded targets in the valley, the UN said it was threatening to become one of the world's biggest displacement crises.

A full-scale offensive began on Friday, with militant strongholds hit from the air and troops conducting operations on the ground.Despite now abandoned attempts to secure a peace deal in and around Swat, the area - close to the border with Afghanistan - has long been riven by tensions. Some 550,000 people had already been displaced before the current crisis, said UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond.

Two Sides of the Same Coin

Consider the u-turn heres in terms of the Pakistan government's response to the rise of the Taliban. When the Taliban were in power in Afghanistan, the Pakistan government was one of three countries that recognised them. When the militants took power in Swat, the Pakistan government handed them a peace deal. And now?

From the BBC:

Abdul Hai Kakar from the BBC's Urdu service in Peshawar reports: I interviewed a large number of refugees in Swabi, but I did not meet a single person who actually saw the army and the Taleban as members of opposing camps. Instead, I heard, they were "two sides of the same coin".

"The Pakistani army has hurt us badly - but while they have killed civilians, I swear I haven't seen a single shell directed at the Taleban," says Shahdad Khan, a refugee sheltering at a camp in Swabi's Shave Ada area.

The Taleban captured our area and... threatened local people. But that wasn't as bad as the shelling by the army.

Nasir Ali, displaced high-school student

Others question the Pakistani military's stated commitment to "eliminating" the Taleban. "The army brought the Taleban to our area! It's politics. The Taleban and the army are brothers."

Alarm Bells

You can never be certain of the truth sometimes. Ahmed Rashid, a notable Lahore-based journalist, author of the New York Times bestseller "Taliban" and a regular guest columnist for the BBC writes here:

The Pakistani government and army seem incapable or unwilling to tackle the Taleban threat in the north-west.

Unprecedented political and military disarray in Pakistan and a growing public feeling of helplessness is helping fuel the rapid expansion of the Taleban across northern Pakistan, bringing them closer to paralysing state institutions in their bid to seize total power.

.. Within weeks of concluding a deal with the government on the imposition of Islamic law in the strategically located Swat valley, the Taleban have already broken the agreement by refusing to disarm, taken control of the region's administration, police and education while spilling out into adjacent valleys ..

Anyone following news events in Swat will know this to be fairly accurate, so I quite agree, but read on:

... The Swat Taleban added fuel to the fire by inviting Osama Bin Laden to settle in Swat, indicating their complete control of the valley ...

see further: Disarray on Pakistan Taleban threat, BBC News

What? If the Bin Laden invitation to Swat is true then I'm most interested to see what Pakistan or anyone of the world's major political players will do next. These are dangerous times and I have a young family. I'm confused by stories - the plan - may Allah protect all the people of Swat - is that we will travel and be in valley over summer.

'No need to worry'

The nonchalance coming from the top is especially alarming: 'No need to worry', Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani 'the Taleban pose no threat to the state'.

Alarm Bells, anyone?