system
April 6, 2006, 7:23pm
18
Re: Split Afghanistan
Kooks:
The strange thing is even though these Afghan militias have fought each other to death there is not a single party or group in Afghanistan that wants independence. This could be for a number of factors In my humble opinion.
Afghanistan is a natural state based around the Afghan/Pashtun ethnicity. Afghanistan has a history dating back 5000 years. Pakistan on the other hand was a state created for Muslims but in reality it is a state which served British and now American interests within the region. Afghanistan has been a state long before Pakistan was dreamed about. The true or pure Afghans are the Pashtuns. The Uzbeks, Tajiks and Hazaras or not ethnically Afghans and the former two arrived in Afghanistan as refugees. They are lookk old Pakistani ID cards, I am not sure of the new ones, the Pashtuns of Mardan, Quetta etc have Afghan as their QAUM. A Pashtun cannot stop being an Afghan and will always continue to have strong and close links with each other, like a child with its mother. Pakistan you could say is a foster mother. As a whole it means no harm but still the relationship cannot beat that of mother and child.
Pakistan on the other hand is not a historical state but it has the geography to make it a good and successful state. It’s main problem is it sees any minority culture outside of Punjabi as now a threat to its borders. The Urdu speakers of Hindustani origin who settled within Pakistan, who led the movement have seen a sharp reduction in their power and naturally are bitter. Pashtuns were the ones most likely to break away from Pakistan pre 1980 but now these titles go to Sindh and Balochistan now.
Why are nationalistic movements stronger in a relatively peaceful and stable Pakistan as compared to violent Afghanistan? I suspect it is because of the provincial arrangements along side the historical ethnicity argument. Afghanistan believe it or not has 30 plus provinces which could not function as small states. It probably has the most decentralised government with very little reliance on the central government in Kabul as compared to other nations. Although this is totally because of the wrong reasons. LOL. Pakistan on the other hand has big sized provinces and 2 tag alongs ie Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir. The provinces tend to have an ethnic majority too and more or less cut along ethnic lines except. Their are minorities but there is always a single ethnic majority too in each province. The key would be to cut these areas so that they form smaller units and possibly become less anti-state.
Afghan minorities are more nnationalistic than the majority Pashtuns now. They see the land up to the Indus as their land which rightfully it is but it can only be taken back if the people of NWFP wish it so and right now we all knwo the answer to that.
International Factors will also not allow Afghanistan to break up. A balkanisation of Afghanistan wil make the Pashtun cause stronger. The Americans right now need a stable Afghanistan because it is near Iran, Central Asia, China and Pakistan. The Americans do not trust Pakistan and if they feel they need to break it, they will do. One day they wil be after Pakistan too and the leader of Pakistan at the moment, Pervez Mosharaf has made things worse. Americans have a choice of supporting pro-right wing religious forces which it does not need anymore and are now considered the enemy or secular forces , which are nationalistic. Unfortunately nationalism is rearing its head again. Pashtuns have been alienated and so have Balochies. Had kalabagh dam gone ahead then Sindhis I am pretty much sure would have fought over this issue like they have never before. The warrior spirit would have surely emerged from the people of sindh
TMX wrote a funny little comment about masters and slaves. Unfortunately we all have masters now. Pakistan had control over things in Afghanistan it seemed until the Bamiyan Buddha’s issue cae up. Not even Pakistani diplomacy saved that.
At the moment the USA sees Pakistan as a Primary Slave. Whatever order it issues is granted. And it breaks my heart to see that but we all have masters and slaves. Unfortunately at the moment we as Pakistan have the worst and most untrusted master.
I do know that a few Uzbeks wouldnt mind an independant Uzbek province, but just dont see the need… A friend of mine who fought for the N alliance told me he doesnt have a lot of love for Afghanistan or much patriotism, but its just convenient…