Pashto (پښتو; also known as Afghan, Pushto, Pashto, Pashtoe, Pashtu, and Pukhto) is the language spoken by the ethnic Afghan otherwise known as the Pashtun people who inhabit Afghanistan and the Western provinces of Pakistan.
The Taliban are the product of Pushtun tribal politics, and represent the extremist (even by Afghan standards) religious and social views held by a few Pushtun tribes in the south, along (and across) the Pakistan border.
But the Pushtuns in Afghanistan feel the winds of change, and many have rallied to the Taliban cause, to halt the 20th century, and return everyone to the ancient ways.
To that end, a cross border Pushtun council is holding more meetings, to form a cross-national Pushtun movement that will deal with the social and military aspects of corruption, religious conservatism and the outlaw mentality that makes the region such a dangerous place.
The Pushtuns are divided among the Durrani, Ghilzai, Waziri, Khattak, Afridi, Mohmand, Yusufzai, Shinwari, and numerous smaller tribes.
Afghanistan (and many Pushtuns in Pakistan) argued that if Pakistan could be independent from India, then the Pushtun areas of Pakistan should likewise have the option for independence as an entity to be called "Pushtunistan." Once independent of Pakistan, Pushtunistan would presumably choose to unite with the Pushtun-dominated Afghanistan, to form a "Greater Pushtunistan".
Daoud interpreted the move as an attempt to absorb and marginalise the Pushtuns of the Northwest Frontier Province.
Feeds |
Contact
