War on terror, Taliban and Pashtun nationalists

Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan, Pashtun nationalist and prophet of peace

By Shaheen Buneri
[Peshawar, Pakistan] The first breeze of the coming spring may have caused flowers to blossom and reinvigorated life across the deserts and rugged mountains of the Pakistan tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

And on this side of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border a group of enthusiastic youth in the backyard of a private university in Hayatabad Peshawar are waving red flags and dancing to the tunes of artistically rich Pashto music, celebrating the landslide victory of secular political parties in Pakistan's general elections held on February 18.

It is clear from their glowing faces that they are enjoying their newfound freedom.

"We are celebrating the change. Earlier, the establishment imposed a religious government on us; it promoted militancy and extremism. But this time people of the North West Frontier (NWFP) have flushed them out from the corridors of power. They are the agents of status quo, of frustration and obscurantism," Munnawar Khan, a student leader at the youth gathering says, a rare expression of joy sparkling in his eyes.

This is definitely a big change in people's attitudes and political ideals. The NWFP, commonly known as Frontier, is slowly shaking off longstanding feelings of insecurity and fear. Disappointment and resentment is giving way to hope and mutual understanding.

"The government of the religious parties banned music in public, closed Nishtar Hall, the sole cultural center of the provincial metropolis and, due to its ignorance, centuries-old archeological sites were either damaged or destroyed by different militant groups," according to Usman Ulasyar, chairman of the Swat Cultural Society.

"This led to a frustration among the youth that has now manifested itself in the shape of suicide attacks and terrorist incidents," he says.

During the past two years militants spared no one. The intensified attacks on Awami National Party (ANP) rallies and the killing of leaders of the NWFP indicated that the extremist elements in Pakistan establishment and hardliner religious groups were feeling threatened over people's inclination towards liberal political parties, particularly the ANP, the secular and progressive Pashtun Nationalist Party in Charsadda.

A few days before the general elections a suicide bomber blew himself up at an ANP election rally, killing dozens of its workers and maiming many others.

Besides the killing of populist leader Benazir Bhutto, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), militants attacked political leaders and rallies in Waziristan, Parachinar and Swat to derail the political process and intimidate the people.

Revenge, a feature of the Pashtuns' psychological makeup, has always played a decisive role in their day-to-day life. This time they decided to avenge the damage extremists and religious parties had caused their society.

Despite threats and prevailing uncertainty, they cast their votes and replaced the six-party religious government of Muttahida Majlas-e-Amal (MMA) with secular parties like the PPP and the ANP in NWFP, a frontline province bordering Afghanistan where NATO Forces are fighting Al-Qa'ida and the Taliban (students of religious seminaries).

The ANP grabbed some 30 seats, and the PPP with 18 in the 124-seat NWFP Assembly, with their leaders agreeing to form a coalition government in the province. Analysts say, however, that dealing with terrorism will present a bigger challenge for them.

What is behind the Pashtun nationalists' landslide victory?

A combination of the MMA government's failure to establish an Islamic system, mismanagement of development projects, corruption and the rising tide of militancy, from Waziristan to the scenic valley of Swat, resulted into the resurrection of Pashtun nationalism. Some analysts have even called it the reawakening of Pashtuns.

Reports say that senior leaders of the MMA were very close to some of the militants in the region and on many occasions when the federal government tried to take action against certain militant leaders the MMA government strongly opposed the moves.

"Many of the Taliban voted in favor of the MMA in the 2002 elections; we can't annoy them, as they are our vote bank," Qari Abdul Baghis, a former National Assembly member from Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam (a religious political party) told this reporter in an interview last summer.

The religious alliance always exploited anti-Americanism, but at the same time it provided tacit support for President Pervez Musharraf, the United States' ally in the war on terror, on a number of legal and constitutional issues.

This double standard also alienated it from the people who voted it into the Assembly in the 2002 elections. Ironically, the masses rejected both Musharraf, who supported the war on terror, and the religious parties that opposed it.

This time they pinned their hopes on Pashtun nationalists and the PPP for restoring peace and stability to the region and redefining the ongoing war on terrorism.

Talking to journalists after meeting with U.S. Ambassador Anne W. Patterson at her residence, ANP president Asfandyar Wali Khan said the ANP would support other parties in forming a government that would change the policy on the war on terrorism and stop what he called the spilling of Pashtun blood on both sides of the Pakistan- Afghanistan border.

"Spilling of Pashtun blood" is the phrase that has haunted Pashtuns over the last 25-plus years on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The realization among Pashtuns that the war against terror is actually a war against Pashtuns poses new questions for U.S. policy makers and allies.

"Pashtuns had never shown aggression to anyone," argues Syed Irfan Ashraf, a Peshawar-based journalist. "It was the USSR that attacked Afghanistan in 1979 and now the United States is repeating the same exercise.

"The long instability in the region has produced extremist views and a sense of helplessness being projected in suicide attacks and surging militancy," he says.

Analysts say that by ignoring the Pashtun factor in its war on terror the U.S. has committed a blunder. The result is crystal clear, they say: terrorist activities are engulfing the whole region and now they are spreading to the settled districts of the Frontier and parts of Punjab.

Ali Gauhar, a political activist and social worker, believes that jirga (tribal assembly of elders) and consultation are the main features of Pashtun society. They believe in negotiations and will always prefer roses to guns.

But first they have to be understood in their socio-cultural context, Gauhar says.

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the legendary Pashtun nationalist leader and prophet of peace, advocated non-violence and peaceful resolution of conflicts. In the 1930s he launched the Khudayi Khidmatgar Tehrik (Servants of God Movement) against the British rulers of India, using the weapon of non-violence.

He discouraged extremist tendencies among Pashtuns and trained them to struggle for their rights with non-violence and political activism.

"My leader is Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and not Mullah Omer or Osama Bin Laden," says Sher Ali Khan, an educated Pashtun and government servant belonging to the Swat valley of Pakistan, where 25,000 Pakistan security forces fought the militants of militant leader Maulana Fazlullah.

"Talibanization is a totally alien phenomenon to my culture. My culture instructs me that all outstanding issues should be resolved through negotiations and jirga. While the militants want to establish a dictatorship based on religion, I want education for my children and they are bombing schools," he says.

"I love to sing in the soothing loneliness of my fields and they break my rabab (a popular Pashtun musical instrument."

The 42-million Pashtuns on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border are the direct targets of both the militants and the U.S. war machinery, destroying not only lives but also the foundations of a liberal and secular Pashtun culture.

The recent electoral victory of Pashtun nationalists is an opportunity for both the Pakistani establishment and U.S. policy makers to assist the new government in tackling the issue of terrorism by traditional means and strengthen people's belief in moderation and tolerance.

The ANP's political agenda includes provincial autonomy, fighting terrorism and renaming the NWFP province. It highlights three main issues: Pashtuns want control over their resources; they demand an identity for their nameless province and they want to put an end to religious radicalism.

Khadim Hussain Amir, a university professor and Pashtun nationalist, states in his recently published article, "Aftermath of NWFP polls": "The majority of Pashtuns rejected the thesis that the core of their identity is constructed on the foundations of a narrow worldview. The ANP victory will compel analysts to revise their views on Pashtun nationalism and religious identity and look at them with a fresh perspective. The Pashtuns in the NWFP have given this simple message to the world, that they must not be equated with the Taliban and Al-Qa'ida."

The cordial relationship between the family of Asfandyar Wali Khan, the president of the ANP, and Pashtun leaders of Afghanistan, particularly Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, will also help governments on both sides of the Durand Line to adopt more comprehensive and realistic strategies to counter terrorism.

Time will show whether an ANP-led government succeeds in materializing its vision of a prosperous and progressive Pashtunkhwa (the historical name of the Frontier province).

Their failure, on the other hand, may further complicate the already complicated socio-political situation in the region.

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