Pakistani state and Pashtun nationalism

Pakistani state has always been afraid of Pashtun nationalism. Exporting a pan-Islamic militant movement and training the militants to suppress the rise of Pashtun nationalism on both sides of the Durand line has been used since 1973 when Naseerullah Babar first hosted the Islamist militants in Pakistan on instructions of Bhutto. The think-tanks on the Pakistani side believe this with full conviction that if there is a unified Pashtun nationalism, it will be the end of Pakistan.

And in this fear the state has always suppressed genuine movements of Pashtuns and have denied them their due rights. Demonizing Pashtun nationalism and presenting Islam as the unifying force of the country while refusing to accept any cultural and linguistic diversity are the attitudes of the state. Pakistan wants greater share for Taliban, who are predominantly Pashtuns and see the problems in Afghanistan as power-disparity between Pashtuns and other ethnic groups in Afghanistan, while at the same time deny that there exists any Pashtun issue in Pakistan.

To some extent the fears born by Pashtun nationalism to the integrity of Pakistan are real. The Durand line is unnatural. It has divided people who share the same culture, language, traditions and history via an arbitrary line. If Pashtun nationalism defied the political borders and found a unified expression, the concepts of strategic depth as well as maintaining a dividing line drawn in sand would be hard to maintain. Races are divided along political boundaries in other parts of the world too, but other states take care to not let nationalism rise on basis of language and culture by giving due rights and treat equally the ethnic minorities living in its boundaries, otherwise we witness the worse of civil wars.

Pakistan is suppressing Pashtun nationalism through every propaganda and intimidation tool available but at the same time is providing ample impetus to a unified Pashtun nationalism. From caricaturing Pashtuns and Pashtun culture in mainstream media to racial profiling of Pashtuns in Punjab to depriving KP and Balochistan from their due share in CPEC projects, the state is sending a signal that it has Pashtun nationalism under control and that its policies of presenting Taliban as the true representatives of Pashtuns in Afghanistan and the project of Pakistanizing and Islamizing Pashtuns in Pakistan have produced the desired results.

But to reverse the smugness of the policy makers, perhaps it would do to remind them that they once thought the they have under control the Bengali nationalism and that they can exploit in every possible way the Bengali nation. What happened to that smugness in now part of history.