How I, a Punjabi, was brainwashed with anti-Pashtun bigotry. And how I unlearnt it

When's Pakistan was being made  in 1947 , there was no Muslim League Sir  jinah or Sir Allama iqbal known in Pashton lands or  having any real power in the elected Leadership of Pashtons. Lands , or any power in elected Assemblies over then till 1947 .

Muslim league was non existent here in elected Assemblies but was represented by a few bureaucrats and servants of British like some Sahbizadas , Khan Bhudurs and Arababs etc title holders of British like Sahbizada Abdul Qayum a Qadiani of Topi Swabi or some Mullahs on pay role of British in Jameet ulema hind some Deobandi agents of British.

The only representation Muslim league had was , maybe less than 6  seats in both provinces  of Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan which was one and same  at that time. As name Baluchistan name did not come till 1971 when new constitution of Pakistan was made by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto  ......

Out of hundreds of elected Pashtons in Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and Baluchistan Assmbly called state of Kalat at that time in 1947 which ,was Nationalist and reformist party of  Awami national Party of Bacha Khan, Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan is forgotten and not mentioned in text books of Pakistan but history is not taught in Pakistan but a fed lies in as Pakistan Studies ..

Muslim league that were never Voted by Pashtons and balauchis  in 1947 ,  in fact the elected Asemblies of Baluchistan was bombed with Artillery by Pakistan Army and Air force in 1947 -48 , Air force  was used to destroy the session of parliament ,when we are gifting Kashmir our human rights were being trampled.
The Pakhtunkhwa elected Asembly was discharged with out any reason in dictatorial manner by Sir jinnah in 1947 being a non elected head of newly formed Pakistan in partner ship with British was discharging and sending home elected leaders of Pashtons in Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan . FATA people were directly under bureaucrats as slaves in 1947 till today .

As it was British who put all the Congress people in jail and jinnah and Muslim leaguers  never went to jail and was allotted British titles as a loyalist and kept as loyal servants to British   .

We Pashtons joined Pakistan  because of our own will and for love of  Islam as we did not wanted India which was far away and not geographically joined with us with Pakistan in.between .

Afghanistan was not even  offered as a choice , by the British conducting referendum we did not love or like sir  jinnah or  sir iqbal  wearing British dresses and looked more of a Kala sahib replacing a white Gora sahib a British agent than a leader who was  working for Islam .

But we were already a  free Nation at times of partition in 1947 but we did a grave mistake in that referendum by believing in Punjabis and their leaders and we are still paying for our mistake every day every hour to this day .

We should have not  belived in Religion but should have gone for Pashton Nationalism and we did a foolish mistake that reminds us every day that why we are prejudiced and hated because of that mistake in believing in Islam .

75 years have passed but we are never Accepted as Real Pakistani by Punjabis  . We face  bias and Racism and   inequality as We don't have  a fair constitution of Pakistan over us for more than half of our Pashton population and Pashton areas .

We are treated by a special Draconian and degrading and insulting laws call FCR frontier crimes regulation a set of 40 laws made by Lord curzon viceroy of Britain in 1800 ,a , these same laws at applied by Kala sahib Punjabis  to this day on Pashtons

We gave 100 percent Kashmir as a gift  to Pakistan in 1947 and kept All of Kashmir for Pakistan  up to 1949 for Pakistan and Indian a
Army was shamed and defeated by us  , 

But the Punjabis shamelessly ,   later gave  60 % of Kahmir was given back to India  by Punjabi leader Mr Laiqat Ali  to India without a single shot being fired as a gift in 1949 what we call Indian occupied Kashmir now or IOK and that gift is with India to this day.

The shame continues ,  even today the Pakistan Army cannot take IOK ,  back to Pakistan from India ,  with its atomic power , and being 4th  largest and strongest Army in the world  , it has lost all the wars it fought over Kashmir in 1965, 71, Kargil and also war on terror it cannot be victorious but a looser Army  vet it celebrates all it as victories as defence day when it lost all th wars and it would never celebrates the 1947 war which we won and got Kashmir for Pakistan .

it supports terrorists like  Punjabi Taliban Lashkar toiba or jhangavi , over Kashmir and Afghanistan but they are killers and terrorists  loosers who cannot do thier job as We did for Pakistan as Pashtons

All Pashtons , who did not all go to war in Afghanistan and Kashmir if we all go together  the world will be at our feet as promised by God as Bani Israel when we were evicted from Israel by orders of God . But he promised any land we out our feet on and it stands true to this as it will of God .

We saved Pakistan from USSR , and we fought  alongside , Arab Jihadists and Islamist who were brought on our lands as guests  by the same Punjabis who did not offer Punjab to there foreign guests and was out of bound for Arabs and Afghans. So much for Pan Islamism bull shit ...

Punjabis  asked us to forget ourselves and become Muslims or Bedoos Nation  and promoted Pan Arabian Islamism philosophy cunningly which does not exist as we are not even considered as brother by the same gulf countries and Arabs counties and concept of Islamic brother hood  lies only in books not in reality and in world today.

Pashton are only fools who believe in Pan Islamism bull shit  even the Punjabis don't believe in it when it comes to Pashtons and Balauchis ..as Punjabis  running the country we are never Muslims in Pakistan when treated by Punjabis.

We did fight for Pakistan as after Afghanistan it was Pakistan they wanted and our lands of Pashtons were there , then Arab countries and it's oil and warm waters oil fields was the  ultimate target. We saved the Pakistan Arabs  and the Punjabis brothers and sisters with our blood and usa too from Soviets and communsim.

Pashtons destroyed Soviet union and we liberated the Europe from Iron curtain fell because of us as the  Berlin Wall and it became one United Europeans union because of us and it was no more Soviets and communists in the world because of us Pashtons .

Punjabis was saved from Soviets and Europe liberated  was made one and United with more than 3 dozen counties made as one United Europe , the  Berlin wall fell and people were United in Europe with lost families and relatives .  Americans were saved from global super power Soviet union with its Atomic weapons .

Arabs  progressed  peacefully and they made tall buildings envy of the world with our the Russians , and great progress  was made in GCC in  Dubai Saudia,  as we saved them  and what we got ? Nothing but disability deaths and poverty and we were left tp collect the garbage for Punjabis with donkey carts and drivers of transport  and security guards and boot polisher cobblers of Punjabis and Arabs in Gulf countries.

The American and the  world celebrated and Arabs who paid dollars for dollar with Americans , became victors  Liberators and heroes with Americans as their partners celebrating  and they were never called terrorists or called bad names neither was the Punjabis .. Punjabis were called brothers Allies of USA  and partners in NATO ...

.. Only The Punjabis and it's ISI declared themselves  as  victors and only Heroes victorious over Sovietes getting all the glory from us and forgetting us Pashtons  in celebrations .

We Pashtons were left in poverty neglect by all of them including Pakistani Punjabis , who started fearing us and despising and hating us as a Dog and called us Terrorists and criminals.

We were hated by Punjabis , Arabs and American and Europeans for whom we sacrificed so much even we are not involved in 9/11 or any European terrorism .

We would loose our Homes ,families brothers and sisters our lands , our business and our honour for being a patriotic Pakistani .

It's is said Give a Dog a Bad Name and Kill it and we were , exactly treated like that , worse then dogs from 1947 to now , no mention exists in Paki media or history  of our Kashmir victories and 1947 -49 was and it's  liberation in Pakistan ,

No mentions of history of Pakistan Studies of our defeat of Soviet union and  fall  of communism or the liberation of Europe because of Pashtons

Or our sacrifices then and now on fake war on terror , which is nothing but war on Pakhtons ,  we are bad Dogs and that has to be killed , hated and despised .

We become IDPs on our lands and we have become the largest on Earth or universe displaced Pashtons as IDP  and out of their homes....

and yet when Pakistan budget is passed we are given not a single extra  Rupee by Punjabis  as measure as token of sympathy or empathy or  appreciation ,.recently in latest government of PTI , that is a party made by Punjabis for the punjabi  establishment under Punjabi domiciled imme Taliban  Khan ,

half of Budget of Pakhtunkhwa was lapsed in amount of 100 Billion rupees out of 200 billion  that was given back to Punjabis as a gift by Punjabi imme Taliban  Khan Sahib back to  federation run by Punjabis and it's establishment as a policy .

PTI criminals Punjabi establishment backed right wing parties , to cover that 100 Billion deficit ,  PTI took loans that have to be paid back with huge interest  from IMF and world bank's , resulting in more taxes and poverty on just Pashtons but not on Punjabis ,

burdening  a province that is active in war , and destruction ,  being destroyed every day and blown up , this is what you get as token of appreciation.

There is no money for us but a lot of money for Army Basses on our lands snatched from Pashtons ,  who were not ready to sell and who resisted were either made Disappeared missing Persons or declared  terrorists and killed in fake police encounters

Pakistani media controlled by Punjabi establishment  looked the other way conveniently as it serves as the prostitute to the establishment as people say , it cares shit about humanity or human rights or even citizens of Pakistan as We are sometimes called by mistake .

Most of terrorists even if there are actually are Pashtons who are one as Gul Khans , who  follow the Punjabi mullahs like that of Raiwind , Mansoora and Wafiq ul madarissahs all run by Punjabi mullahs of Takht I Lahore as we call the Punjabis establishment , and Loyal puri faislabadis  ,

Terrorists Punjabi establishment  lashkars toiba lahoris or jhangavi loyal puris faisalabadi  Punjabis , are all translations of Pakistan Army as  Lashkar toiba in Arabic is translated as Pakistan Army ,

Pashtons are all misled by Punjabis mullahs with connections with Punjabis establishment , led by them to kill our own blood and Pashtons  in Af-pak area of Pakhtunkhwa , fata and Baluchistan on this side of durrand line and over other side of durrand line we kill in Pashton dominated area Afghanis for the love of Pakistan and punjabi who treat us like dogs and shit .

Half of our nation has its ID cards and Pakistani nationality blocked and we are not even considered Pakistani , and other half has had no rights since 1947 , as there is no constitution on half of our people in 7 FATA and PATA  divisions / Agencies ( total 14)  and another 6 FR areas / Districts are not even counted as citizens of Pakistan and under Article 247 , we are not entitled to Pakistani constitution at all , neither any of its human or basic rights of objective resolution allows to that half of our population at all .

Yet we are supposed to call ourselves as Pakistani and have to prove our loyality and face the bias and racism and hate of punjabi establishment ,

Same terrorists are supported by the Punjabis establishment and they have become rich riding in 20 million Land cruisers each and all of them and we real citizen of Pakistan are Facing the brunt of Racism and bias and hate , loosing our Homes and lands and our families and everything we have for what ?? For nothing

Punjabi establishment has decided that they will use the brutal methods against us Pashtons  they want to make a another division between Pakhtons and Afghanistan like  Wahga in Torkham where they Punjabis army men would show the under wears to Afghanis , when they raise their feet to sky ...........as they show to Indians at Wahaga each day at Sunset by Marching and raising their feet to the sky in a comical ceremony that has become a media spectacle .

The syllabus of Punjabis in schools is full of Hate of Pashtons. And we are traitors in books taught to children in Punjab . And they are not just books but official Text books ..

Have after 75 years Will never go away and will remains and no efforts is under way to rectify it even when we saved the Punjabis in 1965 , 71 , Kargil and in words of a Khan who gave Atomic power to Pakistan Abdul Qadir khan , "" I am not treated like equal Pakistani like the punjabis """, he was disgraced by the Punjabis establishment recently for sacrificing his life for, making us strong after humiliating defeat in 1971 war and making Pakistan Atomic power.

He said in one of his Article , that Punjabis are thinking of Enslaving Afghanistan and Pashtons as Fifth Province and dreaming about it and forgetting Alexander , Changez Khan , Romans , British , Rusians and now the Americans who lost in.Humiliation to Pashtons  , Punjabis and it's establishment may be next on the list soon as things are going .

Here is a letter of Punjabis to Pashtons , in all its sincerity , hats off to him or her who did not publish name .

Dear Pashtuns,

I am a Punjabi who has been living in the capital of Punjab for almost four years. I am studying both politics and sociology simultaneously at the University of Punjab, Lahore. I know very little about your culture and political beliefs but, for sure, I know more than any ordinary Punjabi . I am sharing my educational background and familiarity with your culture and politics to demonstrate one very important thing which I am intending to discuss in this piece: politics and social philosophy of life. 

We know your loyalty is beyond any doubt, your dedication, passion, and commitment with your assigned goals do not need any certification. And your sense of self-esteem is probably the thing the whole Pakistan is proud of.

You did a lot for Pakistan, for Afghanistan, for Saudi Arabia, for America and for the whole world. But in return you got blood, pain and a bad-name. Hold on… this is not what God has done with you. This is what humans, your so-called brothers, did with you.

There was a time when Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the father of the nation, trusted you and gave you both respect and responsibility. And what you returned us was probably something our strongest army wouldn't be able to give us. I, like the father of the nation, feel proud of you. 

But since 1980s you were used, misused, exploited, maimed, beheaded, murdered and ultimately declared as the biggest terrorists of the world. All this happened when you were fighting a ‘holy war’ for the capitalist America to defeat the atheistic Soviet Union under the leadership of Zia and his Saudi brothers. Americans gave dollars, Saudis surfaced ideological grounds, and Zia being a strategist devised murderous strategies to fight this war. As a result, the Soviets were white-washed, America came out as the sole superpower of the world, Zia went away to meet his awaiting- seventy two virgins and Saudis  joined Americans to celebrate their victory. 

You remember you were ‘jihadists’. You were ‘ghazis’. You were brothers of Zia. But you were so as long as there was war. At the end of the war you were zombies, terrorists, and the biggest enemies of peace of the world.

This is a sad story. This is a bitter past which dominates the bloody present. This is what your brothers did with you.  

The important question remains: who got what from this war? Both Pakistan and Afghanistan are paying the heaviest price of their bravery and love for their brothers and friends. A harsh reality of the day! 

This is what happened in history. I can’t change it. Nor can you or anyone else. We have to accept it. 

Let’s talk about other things. Why do we, Punjabis, not regard you as trustworthy friends? There is a reason behind this mistrust and awkwardness. I still remember when I was a child I used to go out almost all the time. My mother used to assert: ‘Do not go out. There are Pathans in town and they will take you with them.’ And believe me I used to be very scared of you whenever I heard about your presence. 

Then I came to Lahore and here what I initially learnt was so scary: “Pathans are dirty. They love ‘naswar’, smoke, and eat tasteless food and follow stupid things. Girls don’t like them. Most of them are gay, so try to avoid them as much as you can.” This is what I learnt from my friends, their friends and from lay public. 

Unfortunately, when I formally joined my university I had a very bad image of the Pathan in my mind. I remember in my first ever class at the campus when I saw that there were some Pathans in my class I was just thinking so many bad things about them: abductors, heartless, homosexuals…

With all this I started reading with them and reluctantly interacted with them. I started finding things contrary to what I had learnt. They were more loving than Punjabis, more loyal than anyone else in my social circle, more intelligent, more outspoken and more concerned about Pakistan than us. This is what I learnt about Pashtuns in my own classroom and through my extensive interaction with them. 

Moreover, I read about you. I was interested to learn about your culture including marriage system, badal (the concept of revenge) and everything about Pakhtunwali. I found you people with a strong sense of identity in a Pakistan where everyone else is struggling with his/herself because of identity crisis.  

I was lucky to get a chance to stay at Peshawar University when I was selected as a participant of Third International Summer School. I ate your traditional foods and took the same tea. I love Afghani Pulao and want to visit again my friends, Sajid and Abid in Peshawar. 

The bottom line is, dear Pashtun friends, you have been stereotyped in a very bad manner in Pakistan. Who did it? I really don’t know. But I know it has been done so smartly that there must always be a dividing line in Pakistan between “us” and “them”.

Image Courtesy: Pakistan Today

The sadder part is that now terrorists are being profiled on racial basis and so many Punjabis believe Pashtuns are bad people; violent extremists. Our police is issuing notices and warning us to report if we see any Pathan selling tea in their traditional outlook. I am sad to read this notice. All this made me teary-eyed. 

I wrote this letter to convey my love, not any sympathy, because I know you people neither need nor like it. I am a Punjabi who believes you people are misrepresented, misread and misused. I am a Punjabi who urges you to come here and interact with common Punjabis and let them know what they believe is absolutely incorrect. Come here and teach these people how to love, what it means to be sincere, what it means to be Pakistani and most of all tell them what it means to be Pashtun .

God bless you!

Published in the Nation newspapers , on 27 Feb 2018. By a Punjabi who did not care to mention his or her name  -     https://nation.com.pk/27-Feb-2017/how-i-a-punjabi-was-brainwashed-with-anti-pashtun-bigotry-and-how-i-unlearnt-it

Severe Discrimination by and Bias of Punjabi's to Quota of Other Provinces and their Rights in Jobs and Education

In order to provide equal access to underprivileged/minority groups as well as to enhance the proportion of any under-represented class or area in the society, many countries in the world have devised effective laws and policies that promote equal opportunities and give special preferences to these groups in terms of distribution of resources and services. 

These laws are termed as affirmative actions or positive discrimination and are continuously being reviewed in terms of their implementation and effectiveness. Under these laws all the public bodies are responsible to eliminate discrimination and promote equality and publish the details of such initiatives in their annual reports. 

These laws also specify that it is not the responsibility of those who claim unfair treatment to provide evidence but it is the responsibility of the alleged discriminator to prove his/her legitimacy. Those who ignore the implementation of the affirmative action laws are heavily penalized and the penalty could include imprisonment as well.

In this regard article 27 of the Constitution of Pakistan prescribes mechanism to safeguard against discrimination. This article authorizes the parliament to make effective legislation in order to redress the under-representation of any class or area in the service of Pakistan. 

Under this provision the parliament of Pakistan devised provincial quota system for federal services as well as for admission in federal institutes/universities so as to provide equal opportunity/representation to all the provinces. According to this quota system, the share of Punjab (including federal capital Islamabad) in federal services and admissions in educational institutes is 50%, Sindh 19% (11.4% rural and 7.6% Urban), KPK 11.5 %, Baluchistan 6%, GB & FATA 4%, AJK 2% and the remaining 7.5% for the open merit. 

Now let us see if the above affirmative action is implemented by federal public bodies in its true letter and spirit. In this regard a news item appeared in some sections of the press recently (July 2, 2014) which concludes that the ‘Senate committee on job quota failed to do its job’. This committee was formed around four years ago (Sep 2010) when some Senators from the smaller provinces complained against non-implementation of the provincial job quota in federal services. 

The committee was headed by the then leader of the house Nayyar Bokhari and was tasked to review the appointment between 2007 and 2010. The committee conducted around 32 meetings but could not produce the final report and now it has been dissolved as the subject matter has been transferred to Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice. So that’s the state-of-the-art of the government initiatives regarding implementation of the affirmative actions to provide equity based representation and distribution of services and resources to all the provinces. 

Now the incumbent Government could appoint another committee to find out the reasons as to why the Senate’s Special Committee on Job Quota failed to do its job in 4 years? And this process could continue endlessly without delivering anything good to the masses. 

The under-represented classes and areas are continuously crying for justice. Leaving other federal bodies/institutes aside let us look at the biased and discriminatory attitude of the country’s premier education related body i.e. the Higher Education Commission (HEC). In this regard an important source of reference could be the letter written in July 2012 by the then Governor of Baluchistan Mr Zulfiqar Ali Magsi to the Prime Minister of Pakistan which says that  ‘provincial quota in Higher Education Commission (HEC) becomes 6 percent while only 0.9 percent employments have been given to the province’.

Similarly, Sindh Chapter of the Federation of All Pakistan Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) urged the Prime Minister and the President of Pakistan to make the Higher Education Commission accountable for continued discrimination against Sindh in terms of distribution of services and resources (Press Release Jan 1, 2014).

In response to this complaint the then Executive Director who is now the incumbent Chairperson of HEC visited the HEC Regional Centre Karachi and assured FAPUASA Sindh Chapter that an independent inquiry would be held to review HECs services and resource distribution since 2002 and in the light of the findings of this inquiry a transparent mechanism would be devised for better implementation of the affirmative action. 

Unfortunately, even after six months there had been no any progress towards this aim and the biased and discriminatory policies are going on continuously. As a proof of biased attitude one could cite HEC’s own data. According to HEC’s annual report 2010-11 the percentage of province-wise distribution of scholarships is: Punjab 66.5; KPK 21.7; Sindh 5.7; Federal 3.5; AJK 1.9; Baluchistan 0.6 and FATA 0.5.These figures are clearly against the constitutionally approved rights of the smaller provinces specially in the case of Sindh and Baluchistan! 

Similar trend of distribution could easily be found for research and development grants, travel grants, number of tenure track faculty members, number of national and international seminars and conferences grants, number of Business Incubator Centres, number and location of federal Universities/institutes such at COMSATS, number of HEC funded research journals, number of Campus Management Software Solutions, number of sports events and many other projects.  

It is not only Sindh and Baluchistan but recently Vice-Chancellors of 18 public sector Universities of KPK also issued a joint statement regarding continued biased attitude of HEC in terms of job/admission quota and distribution of resources (reported in press on July 3, 2014). The Vice-Chancellors have complained that not only HEC but except the QAU, all other 13 public sector federal Universities neither implement job nor admission quota despite the facts that the major portion of funding goes to federal Universities due to biased attitude of HEC.  

It is pertinent to note that the non-implementation of the affirmative action is the violation of the Constitution of Pakistan and may lead Pakistan’s already fragile federation towards a serious national crisis! It is the time that the government pays heed to this very important issue and learning from other countries moves toward more positive discrimination to compensate the loss of the under-represented classes and areas.

 To this aim a joint committee consisting of Senators from smaller provinces and representatives of the University teachers may immediately be constituted to conduct a thorough review of HEC and prepare 5 year strategic plan for the future. 

source: http://viewpointonline.net/2014/07/vp212/time-to-end-hec-s-discriminatory-attitude-towards-sindh-baiochistan

World Legendary Hero,s are Zeros by Pakistanis if they are from Pakthunkhwa as Pashtuns

By Shaan Agha
Published Jun 13, 2014 06:18pm

Pashtuns Jehangir Khan only Sports man in History of World to Win 555 Matches consequently and so is Yunis Khan who Gave us World cup after Imran Khan another Pashtun Legend and Shabaz Khan a Great Legend and yet we are so Baised and make them Zeros .



L-R Cricketer Younis Khan, squash legend Jahangir Khan and hockey star Shahbaz Ahmed.



As I warmed my chair to watch the Roland Garros final, I was warned by my Rafa crazed wife that dinner would only be served if Rafael Nadal went on to win a record 9th French Open title in his 5th consecutive bid. No man in history has comparable success or has dominated a single surface as has the 'King of Clay'. Novak Djokovic too was gunning for a career Grand Slam.

The scoreline stood at one set a piece going into the third, but the body language of the two players suggested that there was now a clear favourite. Nadal was on his way to win his 14th Grand Slam, only three shy of Roger Federer’s record 17. Djokovic said that beating Rafa at the French Open was not just the most difficult thing to do in Tennis, but perhaps in the entire sporting world; Nadal now has a 66 -1 Win/Loss record in his 10 years at the Parisian Slam.

As my wife ecstatically celebrated, I too was happy to witness a feat that might survive the test of time, and I was also relieved that dinner would finally be laid. During our meal we discussed how Rafa’s dominance and his aura of invincibility on red dirt bore a stark resemblance to a Pakistani legend that graced the squash courts and ruled them for over a decade; we reminisced the era of Jahangir Khan.

From 1981 to 1986, Jahangir was unbeaten in all competitive play. He won 555 consecutive matches, the longest winning streak by any athlete in any top level professional sport. He won ten consecutive British Open (the Wimbledon equivalent) championships, remaining unbeaten at squash’s most prestigious tournament between 1982 and 1991. Jahangir was, and for many will always be, the undisputed 'King of Squash'.

Unfortunately, the air that Jahangir created in the world of squash did not translate into the national stardom one would have expected or hoped for. I personally grew up playing squash and tennis at a club in Karachi that Jahangir sometimes visited, but he was always found in the Billiard Room and never at the squash courts. I seldom saw people stopping and asking for autographs or taking pictures with the legend. I now realise, I don’t have them either, next time though, I will make sure I intrude his stride and get one of each.

This brings us to a grave question that desperately begs to be answered by the Pakistani public. Why did a man of Jahangir Khan’s stature receive such mellow national celebrity status and relatively less popularity than his achievements and accolades warranted?

One can reason that squash is not a big sport; the cash flow does not allow the glitter and in Pakistan, glamour, it seems, is reserved for its only one true sporting passion: cricket. While all of the above could provide rational to the lack of fame or fortune for great Pakistani sportsmen, the rabbit hole is a lot deeper.

For many years, Pakistan produced the most talented and skilled stock of hockey and squash players in the world, but the lack of larger than life heroes has meant a dearth of aspiring followers. Economic non-viability and shortage (or mishandling) of resources has deprived sports its fare share and halted its progress, but it is the absence of inspiration for the Pakistani youth that has jolted its foundation and become the core of the prevailing quagmire.

Posters of Jahangir and Jansher Khan, or Samiullah and Kalimullah are from bedroom walls of the past. An entire generation in Pakistan has grown up without idolising a star from the sports Pakistan once ruled, many kids of today have never picked up a hockey stick or a squash racquet in their life. While squash and hockey are on an extremely slippery downward curve, cricketers too have lost the fan fare they once enjoyed. Sadly, instead of glorifying the players, the administrators have contributed in decimating the stardom of its most important asset.

The most recent victim of reproach at the hands of the authorities was Younis Khan who was initially demoted to a “B” category contract by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). With a Test batting average of 51.92 and 23 hundreds, Younis ranks among the best batsmen the country has ever produced. He captained Pakistan in all forms of the game and led the team to a glorious World T20 championship. According to reliable sources, a disappointed and dejected Younis had decided not to sign the contract, even if it jeopardized his future with the Pakistani team.

Also read: Nadal – God must’ve had a plan

The legacy of Younis Khan goes beyond statistics and numbers. Not as talented as his peers Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf, he has been able to achieve as much, and even more on certain accounts. He was one of the few who maintained a clean slate in a team rife with corruption and politics. He belonged to a small group of Pakistani cricketers of his era that went without a blemish on their integrity or accusations of disrupting team spirit.

Younis should have become the corner stone for a generation of cricketers to follow, the symbol of hard work, honesty and perseverance. Instead of being decorated with badges and medals of honour, he was made to look like an old man trying to cling onto a cricket contract at the twilight of his career, and more embarrassingly his self esteem.

What message was the PCB giving out to young cricketers? Who would want to be the next Younis Khan, if he was portrayed as a struggling, unsatisfied man trying to fight for his basic rights?

The decision of Najam Sethi to reverse the atrocious call on Younis Khan’s contract was much needed and has been welcomed by the entire cricket fraternity. Most importantly, Sethi is putting in place a clause that will automatically award an "A" category contract to any player that has represented Pakistan in over 300 matches and captained in all three formats.

PCB for once has taken a step in the right direction. Organisations, institutions and countries work most efficiently when there are adequate functional systems in place, and not through the whimsical accord of the powers that control them at a given time. With this new clause in PCB’s contractual framework, the chances of such mistakes being repeated should diminish.

In a recent lash out at the Pakistani public who apparently misbehaved on social media, Wasim Akram said he had a job in India and could not come to Pakistan to sell “amrood” (Guava), clarifying that he was a patriotic Pakistani. It is a tragedy for Pakistan that someone who should have been a national treasure needs to come on TV and explain which side of the border his loyalties remain. It is the job of the entire country to develop and maintain a climate where stars understand their responsibilities and they receive public love and respect in return. But far too often in Pakistan, both fail to maintain that balance.

While Nadal was recently named as the adopted son of Madrid, the highest honour given by the city hall in the Spanish capital, the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) has sealed the newly-built Jahangir Khan Sports Complex on Kashmir Road in Karachi. For right or for wrong, the Pakistani legend is sadly an accused outlaw in his own country and the Spanish maestro is their most adored hero.

Dreadfully, the Pakistani hockey team has also failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in its history.

The Pakistani government, media, corporations, institutions, and the civil society have failed to build systems or create an environment that could have nurtured and popularised national heroes. In fact, these stakeholders often play a part in defaming, slandering and marginalising the country’s most prized possessions; the damage of which is far reaching and beyond mathematical calculation.

There are some things money can’t buy; national pride, the psyche of an entire country and inspiration that can alter social fabric. A hundred thousand rupees more or less on a cricket contract are of little significance because there is no price tag that can absorb the emotions of millions who aspire to adorn national colours.

Respect cannot be expected if one is not willing to offer any. And if Pakistan wants its sporting culture to regain its lost glory, the Green Blazer has to hold the reverence it inherently desires.
Published Dawn 13th June 2014 : http://www.dawn.com/news/1112518/not-our-heroes

SC asks Punjab to end ‘unlawful’ Shameful wheat curbs on Pakhtunkhwa by Nawaz Sharif Government

ISLAMABAD: Admitting a complaint against the blockade of wheat transport into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa filed by the PTI government, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the PML-N government in Punjab to refrain from taking unlawful measures.


Additional Advocate General Mustafa Ramday, who was representing the Punjab government, was also ordered by a three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja to tell the court on May 28 why the wheat procured in Punjab by the KP government was not being allowed to be transported out of the province.


The bench was hearing an application filed by Jamaat-i-Islami’s secretary general Liaquat Baloch on the plight of hapless citizens who are being forced to buy flour at exorbitant prices despite the fact that Pakistan is proclaimed to be “an agricultural country”.


The petitioner argued that a steep rise in the cost of living was taxing the meagre resources of the people, making it hard for them to make ends meet and put food on the table for their families.


At the last hearing on May 13, the court had asked law officers of the federal and provincial governments to help determine the constitutional consequences in case provinces failed to provide essential food items to the most vulnerable segments of society, in violation of citizens’ fundamental rights.


In its order on Tuesday, the court repeated the same directions. In an application moved by KP Advocate General Abdul Latif Yousufzai, the province deplored that the Punjab government had imposed an unannounced restriction on the movement of wheat from its territory into KP. He said for the past 20 days, trucks loaded with wheat and bound for KP were being off-loaded at checkposts.


Court refuses to issue direction to National Assembly on wheat pricing Not only is the restriction taking a toll on the transport system, the application stated, but this action was creating a shortage of wheat in the market, driving up the price of flour.


The free flow of edible commodities throughout Pakistan is ensured under Article 151 of the Constitution, the application stated, adding that the federal government had fixed the procurement target of wheat to 0.450 million tons for KP for the year 2013-2014. This target has to be achieved during the current season ending June 30, 2014, the application said, adding that millers in KP were having a hard time getting the wheat they had purchased in Punjab, back to their mills for grinding.


During the proceedings, Advocate General of Balochistan Nazimud Din floated a proposal to bring down the price of wheat. The Balochistan government, he explained, had borrowed Rs5 billion from banks to buy wheat from growers each year and had to pay Rs680 million in interest on the loan. If the federal government paid the interest instead of the province, the saving would bring down the price of wheat by at least Rs3 per bag.

When Advocate Tauseef Asif, representing the petitioner, asked the court to pass an order requiring the government to consider reducing wheat prices in the budget, the court made it clear that it would not give any directions to the National Assembly. “You are representing the secretary general of a political party which is also being represented in the parliament,” Justice Khawaja observed, asking the counsel to ask his client to raise the matter in the assembly.


The court also ordered Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt to arrange a meeting of law officers of all the four provinces as well as the respective food secretaries with the assistance of Secretary of Ministry of National Food Security and Research Seerat Asghar on priority basis and submit a detail report on the next date of hearing.


The court also said that if the government could not ensure the fundamental rights of citizens by guaranteeing food security for the masses, it should amend the Constitution and delete the provisions that require it to do so. The court, the judges said, would interfere whenever the government failed to ensure the fundamental rights as guaranteed in the Constitution.


Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2014


source: http://www.dawn.com/news/1107661/sc-asks-punjab-to-end-unlawful-wheat-curbs

Stereotyping Pakhtuns

 

Written by N Yousufzai

The lady holding my résumé looked at my attire or perhaps at me from head to toe –she spent a few more minutes on my résumé and then surprisingly asked, “Are you sure – you are a Pakhtun?” I smiled and nodded. She asked me the same question a few more times before she started my job interview. After the interview, she announced: “we are pleased to offer you the job.” Then the charming lady asked me if I wanted to join her on lunch as she was going to cafeteria? I agreed, because I did not want to sound rude on a job interview and secondly, I wanted to know what surprised her on seeing a Pakhtun woman.

Over the lunch, before I could ask anything she started herself that she was from Faisalabad in Punjab, Pakistan, and that she had never met a Pakhtun before. But she had heard a thousand “terrible stories” about the Pakhtuns. Astonished at the word “terrible,” I asked, “Would you mind telling me the details of those terrible stories?” She smiled and said, “Don’t take me wrong but I have always heard that Pakhtun women are not like us, I mean independent and educated, but when my friend referred you for this job, he did not mention your ethnic background but spoke very high of you.”  I was still waiting for the terrible stories she had heard. She continued: “So Pashtun are very rigid people, they kill their woman if they refuse anything against the will of their male?”

She looked at me for confirmation, or at least for a reply. I told her I did not want to say much but some of my female cousins and I had been abroad for education on our own.

Obviously that wasn’t the first time I have left people astonished after telling them that I am a Pakhtun and studying abroad on my own. The image that Pakhtuns have in parts of Pakistan and in neighboring countries—even abroad—is not positive. Besides being considered rigid and callous, we are also labeled as foolish, who out of their foolishness are too much hospitable and trusting.

Pakhtun- best part of the “comedy business”

There has been a sustained campaign against the Pakhtuns stereotyping them in the representational media such as television dramas, advertisements, and entertainment programs. Now, the stereotypes have become so deep-rooted that the young generation is taking it as given. The example of such stereotyping piece of work was recently witnessed in the advertisement of a popular Pakistani mobile network U-fone. I was surprised to know that the artists who directed and performed in the ad were all graduates of one of the top art schools of Pakistan, National College of the Arts (NCA).  Also, some of the most popular comedians such as Omar Sharif and Shakil are famous for cracking up audience with their “Pathan” and  “Khans” jokes. Bushra Ansari, the famous TV artist, who currently is a judge in a talent show Pakistani Idol, said in her remarks about Peshawar, “I know a little bit of Pashto too: topak zama qanoon (gun is my law).

Same comments but from a different ethnicity make a difference?

Famous celebrity Junaid Jamshed’s misogynist comments did not make any headline when he in a popular morning show on TV suggested that a wise man would never let his wife drive. The notorious politician Sheikh Rashid commented on a question regarding marriage, “why to bother buying a cow when milk is available for free in the market!” In their case, their ethnicity was never even mentioned, while in the case of cricket star Shahid Afridi's misogynist comments, his Pakhtun ethnicity stood out more than his words. His comments went viral and every second person on social media linked his words to his ethnicity.

Pakistan will own some Pakhtuns and leave others.

We see in media headlines that a “Taliban commander from a "Pashtun tribe" was killed in a drone strike;” in the same bulletin we watch that "a Pakistani girl", Malala Yousufzai,has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. But the one who died a violent death after a bloody stint in terrorism is lionized, while the schoolgirl who stood against extremism and terrorism is demonized. This is so because a violent and uncouth Hakimullah Masud fits in the stereotyped image of his tribe is acceptable, but a remarkable Malala, who defies the deep-rooted negative characteristics associated with Pakhtuns, is vilified as the ‘Other.’

Your Urdu accent is “hilarious”

Last but not the least, our accent is constantly targeted as well. Our Pashto-ish Urdu is copied and laughed at. First they declared the non-indigenous Urdu, a national language and now they have a problem with my accent because I can’t pronounce the little “h” like they do. For example, it comes out 'Pataan' when I want to say 'Pathan.'-I have even heard people criticizing the well-known journalist Salim Safi for his accent on Geo Television

The racist and sexist jokes irritates me and should irritate everyone, let’s stop being victim of discrimination, raise the awareness and let the harasser know what you feel about it. The stereotypes and harassment has to stop; the media and educated youth of Pakistan will have to take the responsibility and counter any kind of racial harassment and discrimination

Stereotyping is dangerous and it has real life implications. Stereotypes, as well-known cultural theorist Stuart Hall notes, reduce a people to simplified and exaggerated characteristics. Through stereotypes, it is implied that everything that is necessary to know about a people can be known by referring to the traits of the stereotypes. Thus, Shahid Afridi is to be known by the traits associated with his nation or tribe and not by his individual human characteristics. Stereotypes are reductive in nature by declaring: “this is what you are, and this is all you are.”

By stereotyping Pakhtuns as foolhardy and violent, they are denied the attributes of the cultured and the sophisticated. Thus, they become unfit for being taken seriously as a nation that, like any other nation, is equally creative, artistic, and humane. They never get this representation in the Pakistani media, because it does not fit in their stereotyped image. This is how power is exercised to control Pakhtuns through exclusion from the center of power.

source: http://www.pashtunwomenvp.com/index.php/2013-01-28-03-21-27/social/434-stereotyping-pakhtuns