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Changing Dynamics of Pashtoon Politics
Abdur Raheem
Publishing Date: Friday, April 25 2003
Its electoral triumph has enabled the MMA to form government in the NWFP and become a partner of the government in Balochistan. It also emerged as one of the three main key players in the country and both the leading political groups, Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) vied to strike a deal with the MMA to form a government in the center. Had the Faisal Saleh Hayat led forward bloc of PPP not outwitted those engaged in hard bargaining in a bid to get larger portion of the cake, by now MMA would have definitely been part of the Jamali government.
As the MMA leaders make hay while the sun shines, academicians and students of comparative politics find themselves at a loss to find out convincing reasons for the sudden change in the political thinking and behavioral pattern of Pashtuns, which manifested itself in the elections not only in the NWFP and Balochistan but also in the coastal city of Karachi.
The geo political location of a nation determines its physiological response towards vital issues affecting their destiny as well as fate of their posterity. Victims to adventures undertaken by imperialist powers, neighboring countries and even free-booters in the past, Pashtuns have always harbored strong anti imperialist sentiments and rallied around those who stood for defending their motherland against aggressors. Malik Ahmad Khan Yousufzai, Khushal Khan Khattak, Aimal Khan Mohmand, Darya Khan Afridi, Bayazid Ansari, and Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan are a few revered names among those who struggled hard to liberate their motherland from the clutches of alien powers and left indelible marks on psychological and political thinking of Pashtuns.
For those knowing the psychological pattern and behavioral pattern of Pashtuns towards political issues and the role of the clergy in the society, the unprecedented setback suffered by Pashtun nationalist parties remains a dilemma. The recent polls have reduced the numerical strength of Awami National Party in the NWFP Assembly to only 10 and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) to only four in Balochistan assembly. PkMAP chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai is the only Pashtun nationalist leader to make his way to the National Assembly.
The obvious reasons, which served as a vehicle of this momentous change in political approach of Pashtuns – that may also prove as harbinger of social change –, are none other than ignoring fast emerging ground realities in and around the Pashtun land by nationalist leaders and also those heading liberal democratic parties.
The emergence of fundamentalism in Afghanistan, which was patronized by the US, financed by petro-dollars and tutored by regional spymasters finally gave birth to warlordism, booming narco-trade and provision of safe sanctuaries to international terrorists, directly affected not only socio-economic conditions of Pashtuns living east of the Durand line but also changed their behavioral pattern towards issues settled long in historical context.
The most interesting or enigmatic aspect of this scenario is the fact that none of the present day Pashtun nationalist leaders including Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Ajmal Khattak, Afzal Khan and Mahmood Khan Achakzai foresaw this sea change in the attitude of their people. The implication is that this lot was not competent enough to anticipate the writing on the wall.
For them only banking on a history of matchless struggle against British colonialism by Khudai Khidmatgar movement, anti imperialist stance on local, regional and global issues and clean democratic credentials did not work to attract common Pashtun voters because for them silence over anti-Taliban operation in Afghanistan was a deviation from centuries old norm of anti-imperialism, which makes a core of Pashtun culture. Indeed, politics is a part of culture and cultural deviation is something that always costs dearly to those who commit this act. It is simply the cost of cultural deviation by the nationalist parties that routed them from the political landscape of the country.
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