Ani-Pakhtun rhetoric on the rise

The Frontier Post

Jan Assakzai

A new phenomenon of anti-Pakhtun speech - a form of oral and written communication - has come to fore in Pakistan. This could be in words or in deeds. The elements of media particularly electronic media often allow hate speeches against Pakhtun community in their talk shows adding a sense of fear of reprisal and discrimination towards Pakhtuns . It can be attributed to many factors: (1) Militancy in Pakhtun areas has created a sense in other parts of Pakistan as if Pakhtuns are equivalent to terrorism. (2) The mainstream media’s slanted coverage of anti-Pakhtun feeling on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa issue portrayed Pakhtuns less patriotic than Hazarawals in the eyes of many non-Pakhtuns. (3) MQM’s media campaign against Tilibanisation and land mafia in Karachi and its drive to remove Pakhtuns from the city, has cast Pakhtuns as next to evil force in the vocabulary of many non-Pakhtuns. (4) Killing of Punjabis in Balochistan by Baloch militants, has created a sense of fear among Pakhtuns of the province that they are also being looked upon as complicit in the wanton killings of ethnic Punjabis in Balochistan. (5) Some right wing media columnists have gone to the extent of depicting Pakhutns as smugglers, kidnappers and child snatchers. These and other events have led to creation of anti-Pakhtun statements (in words) and attitudes (in deeds) in the country Among many Pakhtuns, the anti-Pakhtun rhetoric has invoked fears: first, it could lead to (besides, anti-Pakhtun feelings in other parts of Pakistan), murders, crimes, job discrimination and more. Secondly, they also worry particularly about unfair criticism of Pakhtuns bracketing them with Taliban and land mafia in Karachi, and bomb blasts in some parts of Punjab -creating a sense as if Pakhtun are equivalent to terrorists. Thirdly, reprisal fear remains for some Pakhtuns from Balochistan (who are living in Punjab) that they might be treated as Baloch and thus singled out as if they were killing Punjabis in Balochistan. But it seems there are also contrary effects of anti-Pakhtun speech. Pakhtun help for their fellow brothers -- especially private help - has also gone up by a rise in Pakhtun’s connection to its larger community fate. A rise that can stem from (1) growing education, (2) an increasing sense that Pakhtuns are fairly embattled and (3) need some one as a defender and retreat of last resort. Likewise, what these days mostly binds Pakistan’s Pakhtun community as an independent community (rather than just as individual people), is a sense of common fate, a willingness to identify as Pakhtuns or fear of ostracism or violent reprisal (a fear that was less serious some decades ago). The amounts of anti-Pakhtuns speech particularly unfair criticism of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa issue, and treatment of Swat, Malakand IDPs, by Punjab and Sindh governments, it seems, has strengthened Pakistan’s Pakhtuns’ self-identity as Pakhtuns , and thus has indirectly both supported the preservation of the Pakhtun community as a community, and strengthened support for themselves. Feeling embattled as a group tends to strengthen group solidarity. Hearing unfair criticisms for the malaise resulting from Pakistan’s geo political and strategic policies, and nearly non-existence of Pakhtun concerns on mainstream media - particularly electronic media - tends to strengthen the sense that Pakhtuns are fairly embattled against, militancy, deprivation, discrimination, suppression and deserves more support. Feeling some fear of anti-Pakhtun speech and near exclusion at national level in the media at this difficult situation has reminded Pakhtuns of the value of preserving Pakhtun institutions, And it reminds Pakhtuns of the value of protecting their community, in case one day Pakhtuns in Karachi or other parts may need refuge somewhere as just Pakhtuns of Swat and Malakand division once did. Anti-Pakhtun speech in words and deeds, whether comes from right wing groups like MQM, or media, respectively, remains. And publicly identifying and condemning such speech will remind Pakhtuns that there is anti-Pakhtun speech phenomenon out there, that it must be fought--and that fighting this phenomenon and protecting against its most harmful effects is one reason that both Pakistan’s state institutions and and Pakhtun institutions need support. The solution lies in pro-Pakhtun advocacy. Pakistan’s freedom of free speech laws help you rather than hurt you. The Internet media has changed many things. You should be shipping in more video cameras and of course demanding protection from violence for those who use them, and publicising the bad speech that you find. Free speech is valuable because it informs people--and it informs people not just when the listener hears and believes the facts the speaker says, but also when the public learns more about the speakers. Publicly visible pro-Pakhtun advocacy, in Pakistan today, is going to be an important informational tool: It would inform Pakistani Pakhtuns of the value of Pakhtun institutions, and it presents this information in an especially emotionally effective way. Therefore, the best strategy to fight anti-Pakhtun speech is through pro-Pakhtun advocacy - a non violent but effective tool in today’s increasingly globalised world. The middle-class Pakhtun answer to any form of suppression should be non- violent pro-Pakhtun advocacy. So pick up the pen, camera, write a blog, send letters, hold a vigil, stage set-in(s), distribute pamphlets etc, but do not sit idle. janassakzai200@gmail.com