Even if KPK was part of china, had socioecomic conditions like developed countries, they would still have been part of pakhtun nation which stretches from oxus to attock. My point is simple, a wealthy pashtun businessman of peshawer is pashtun while poor pashtun of a village in nangarhar is also pashtun....the difference is that they live in two different countries, but are one and same people. North and south korea are two different countries but their people are same racially, linguistically, culturally, historically and so on.
Well said. Bravo.
Most of us in Pakistan would agree in a heart beat the description you posted. I wish ANP top guys were as eloquent.
The issues with ethnicities are relatively simple as long as a particular ethnicity is not used to break up a country.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are joined at hip brothers in some ways and their linkage goes way beyond a simple Pashtun connection.
Historically speaking, An Afghanistani was and still is welcome and respected by other ethnicities in the Indus valley including Panjabis, Balochis, Sindhis and Urdu speaking and yes off course by Pashtuns in KPK. And the reason is that in the time of peace, both regions depended on each other for food, trade, and mutual protection.
In the time of war however, things did go topsy turvy, but then war does bring chaos regardless of ethnicities, regions, nations, and countries.
In fact Afgthanistanis should not over-emphasize Pashtun ethnicity in Pakistan. Because the blowback of such theories have utterly destroyed Afghanistan and sadly it continues to do so.
What they say, mess up anything but never ever, ever never mess up and $hit in your bread basket. Even lowly animals are smart enough to keep their food protected as much as they can.
Punjab and by extension Sindh provide most of the wheat aka daily bread, eggs, chicken, and meat etc. for Afghanistan.
I was recently in Peshawar, and the food price of Ata (wheat flour), chicken meat and eggs had gone through the roof.
And many ordinary Pashtun expressed their anger that prices had shot up because so much of these items is being smuggled into Afghanistan.
Off course the shopkeepers had an easy way out. They were saying that their suppliers in Punjab have raised the prices. Which didn't make sense because the very next day when I came back from Peshawar, the prices of chicken meat and eggs had not increased to the extent it was in Peshawar.
The only reason I could figure out was that food is being smuggled out of Peshawar and the smugglers were willing to pay top dollars. Thus bringing misery to the ordinary folks in Peshawar.
Fortunately fresh supplies from Punjab did bring the prices down a little bit but not much due to constant pressure of smuggling and export to Afghanistan.
Please do not take this commentary in a negative way. I am not starting a blame game.
I am simply saying that Afghanistani-Pakistani relationship goes way beyond simple ethnicity. This is for the mutual survival of the two countries.
And thus I hope that we too on this forum go beyond the divisive discussions on one ethnicity or the other, and think of the two countries respecting each other and helping each other without raising contentious issues like border line, or ethnicities in Pakistan or in Afghanistan etc.
This will benefit much more to Afghanistan in the short run.
Because the more Afghanistanis emphasize Pashtunism, the more insecurity they create for their own minority ethnic groups, thus destabilizing Afghanistan the way it has been for the last 4 long very long decades.
peace to you and peace to all.
