The whole part by part
By Rahimullah Yusufzai
Pashtuns have dominated the province, but others are also now climbing the prominence ladder
The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) is a mosaic of ethnic and linguistic groups even though the Pashtuns dominate every walk of life. The area now forming the NWFP has historically been inhabited by different peoples, thanks to its popularity with adventurers, invaders and traders. That diversity is still reflected in the features of the people who live in present-day NWFP.
The population of the NWFP according to the March 1998 census was 17 million. This didn’t include the 5.7 million people living in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), which for all practical purposes is a part of the NWFP.
In the census, 73.9 per cent of the population in the settled districts of the NWFP identified Pashto as their mother tongue. It further showed that 3.9 per cent speak Seraiki and one per cent speak Punjabi. The remaining 21.2 per cent speak other languages, including Hindko that is the mother tongue of people inhabiting Hazara and certain urban centres such as Peshawar, Kohat and Dera Ismail Khan. It is estimated that 18 per cent of the people in this category are Hindko-speakers. Pashtuns who have forgotten Pashto and now speak other languages are also included in the ‘other languages’ category.
Of FATA’s 5.7 million population, more than 98 per cent are Pashtuns and speak Pashto. If taken together, the Pashto-speaking Pashtuns would constitute over 80 per cent of the population in the NWFP and the FATA. However, the Pashto language isn’t given the importance due to it, keeping in view the percentage of Pashtun population. The time given to Pashto on the state-run radio and television is inadequate and the language has suffered due to official neglect.
Ironically Pashto also failed to get the attention of Pashtun nationalists and critics still recall that while in power, the Awami National Party (ANP) declared Urdu as the official language of the province. The present provincial government has now made English the medium of instruction in schools. The new policy has been appreciated because English is now the universally accepted language, but a thought must also be spared for the students who are the target of all these experiments.
Such was the plight of Pashto that there was no daily in the language until the arrival of Pashto-speaking Afghan refugees in the NWFP. The Afghans patronised the Pashto press and now there are at least three Pashto dailies and quite a few periodicals published from Peshawar. In fact, the Afghan refugees helped revive not only Pashto but also Persian in the province. Pashto was also kept alive all these years by local poets and women who do not interact as much with the outside world as others. They speak pure Pashto instead of the more popular mixture with generous interjection of Urdu and English.
Hindko-speakers and others with Seraiki, Gujri and Chitrali as their mother tongues also complain of official neglect of their languages. Hindkowan intellectuals and writers have been demanding a Hindko Academy on the lines of the Pashto Academy but to no avail. Hindko has fared better on the official radio and television by getting time for current affairs and entertainment programmes but the other minor languages are served only by brief news bulletins.
The Yusufzais along with their cousins – Mandanrs, are probably the largest Pashtun tribe in the NWFP. They inhabit Malakand and Bajaur tribal agencies and Mardan, Swabi, Buner, Swat, Shangla, Dir and Battagram districts. The Khattaks, another big tribe, live in Nowshera, Kohat and Karak districts. The Jadoons are concentrated in Abbottabad and Swabi districts, the Utmankhels in Mardan and Bajaur tribal agency, the Mashwanis in Haripur, Tarins again in Haripur, and the Swatis in Mansehra. The Khalils inhabit Peshawar district, the Gigianis and Mohammadzais live in Charsadda, the Mohmands in the Mohmand agency, Charsadda, Mardan and Peshawar, the Afridis, Shinwaris, Shalmanis and Mullagoris in Khyber tribal agency, the Safis in Mohmand and Bajaur tribal agencies, Bangash in Hangu and Kurram agency, the Turis, Parachamkanis, Alisherzai, Jajis, Maqbals and Mangals in Kurram agency, the Orakzais in Orakzai agency, the Bannuchis and Wazirs in Bannu, the Miankhels, Gandapurs and Nasirs in Dera Ismail Khan, the Kundis and Bhittanis in Tank, Marwats in Lakki Marwat, the Wazirs and Daurs in North Waziristan agency, and the Mahsuds, Wazirs and Burkis in South Waziristan.
Among the non-Pashtun tribes, the Awans, Abbasis, Tanolis and Ghakkars live in Hazara. The Gujjars mostly inhabit the fringes of the mountain valleys and are found in the former divisions of Hazara and Malakand. They have now become a force to reckon with in the politics of Mansehra and Haripur districts.
Some of the Pashtun tribes have made great strides in the field of education. Scores of Mahsuds, one of the fiercest Pashtun tribes, are now occupying high ranking government jobs. The Khattaks and the Yusufzais were the so-called martial race of the Frontier and were, therefore, able to land top military jobs. Two Orakzai tribesmen, the late Major Gen Jamaldar Khan and Peshawar’s present corps commander, Lt Gen Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai, have reached the rank of general. The tribal people have also done well in business and have often proved to be dynamic and enterprising. The hardworking nature of the Pashtuns has found its best expression in the Gulf and the Far East. Employers in the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as well as in Malaysia and Brunei have on record praised the industriousness and honesty of their Pashtun employees.
The Peshawar Valley, the most fertile tract of land in the NWFP, has often dominated the Frontier politics. It has been the nerve-centre of politics and commercial hub of the province. Peshawar as one of the oldest city of the subcontinent enjoyed glory when the Silk Route flourished between India and Central Asia. It is poised to regain that glory once Afghanistan attains stability.