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 Pakhtoonkhwaخیبر 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
Yesterday, I spoke of despair. Today I shall speak of remembrance, and with it, hope. In fact, I started 2010 with a message of hope. As much as I believe in peace, I believe in hope. If you take away hope from people, then what is the reason for them to go on?
On this day, in 1988, Bacha Khan, Leader, Philosopher, Activist and Soldier of Peace died. Bacha Khan's words, whilst sometimes reflected the difficulties of the moment, offer a vision of peace and hope. His message, is one that I have repeatedly come back to on these pages. There is another way, and that is the way to peace, freedom and hope.
نن پښتون تە ټـوپک نە ، د قلم ضرورت دى باچا خان Nan, Pukhtoon ta topak na, da qalam zaroorat de. "Today Pashtoons do not need guns. They need pens." Bacha Khan
Malang Jan's poetry is amongst my favourite and in the wake of 9/11 reflection, I think his words capture the mood of a homeland* that is divided and asks questions of why this is so. I take these two lines from Watan Jareeوطن ژاړي (The Homeland Weeps).
وطن به ژاړي په قيامت زمونږ نيکونو ته
عرض کوي پلورنو ته، زه مو چا ته وم سپارلى؟
Watan ba jaree pa qiyamat zamung nikuna ta
Arz kawee plornoo ta, za mu cha ta wam sparley
On judgement day our homeland will weep before our grandfathers,
We ask the sellers, who handed us over?
Tor_Khanتور خان
On this very day, back in 2001, the Americans felt wounded following the attacks that the world now knows about and invaded Afghanistan shortly after. In 2009, I can safely say that the American plan for Afghanistan and Pakistan is in a state of confusion. Osama Bin Laden seems to have dropped off the agenda and instead Americans and NATO have strained relationships with the people on the ground. Crowds, at weddings, funerals and prayers are vulnerable to missile attacks from the skies and US intentions are met with a genuine scepticism. What happened to the confident promises of development and reconstruction?
The Taleban, never fully dismantled, emerge from the shadows as a "credible" resistance force. That the Americans don't admit that they are losing the battle in the Pashtoon heartlands troubles me. The Americans are not the only ones wounded. Today, the Pashtoons are being bombed back to the stone-age, our supplies are interrupted, we are forced to flee our homes, our tribal leaders are slowly being killed off and we are punished in a manner that the British colonialists called Collective Punishment (i.e. it's indiscriminate - we're all blamed for the militants).
With the US-backedPakistan 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
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."
"This is war", President Asif Ali Zardari, Washington, May 2009
I have family who have never been outside Swat their entire lives, I can't imagine the difficulty that they must be going through. Last night I heard that the situation in Swat has descended into panic. Family homes have been destroyed by military shelling, making even shelter in houses unsafe. During non-curfew reprieves, they have begun to leave - by car, bus, pick-up; even walking.
Refugees
Latest report - most are headed to seek refuge in Peshawar, Swabi or are en route to Karachi. People arriving in camps are being held there - they need to be issued IDs because of escaping Taliban. The displacement has split up families, and the stories of Taliban atrocities are still seeping out of the valley. Again I cannot imagine the misery of what it must be like to abandon your home and flee for safety - but this is about individuals trying to hang on to their lives, and their families. I have never been in that situation, but that I have uncles, aunts and cousins who are on the move and that I get to hear this and their stories, makes me feel all the more responsible. My father called me up last night advising me not to travel this summer. The plans for a big family gathering in Swat are now in a state of confusion.
I am distraught. My wife was talking to family yesterday and there is a strong feeling that the situation was allowed to deteriorate - the common citation, as I've mentioned before, is that there has always been covert support directed towards the Taliban by government agencies and that a more sinister political game is being played out to the detriment of the Pashtoons.
Pashtoons have suffered so much, whether it has been the continuing war in Afghanistan, poverty, illiteracy, lack of adequate housing and health care and massive displacements of people. Ultimately the SwatiPashtoons are not the beneficiaries. Please pray for us and pray for peace in our Watanat this difficult time.
