Afghan nationalism

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The traditional black-red-green tricolor is the main symbol of Afghan nationalism Flag of Afghanistan (1974-1978).svg
The traditional black-red-green tricolor is the main symbol of Afghan nationalism

Afghan nationalism, or pan-Afghanism, [2] is the belief or assertion that the Afghan people are a nation. Afghan nationalists promote the cultural integration of all the people living in Afghanistan. The concept of Afghan nationalism politically overlaps with Pashtun nationalism, as the latter favour the ideas of a "Greater Afghanistan" (i.e. it claims the Pashtun-speaking parts of Pakistan for Afghanistan). [3] However, Afghan nationalists do not always demand for the Pashtun-speaking parts of Pakistan.

Contents

History

It has been argued that Afghan nationalism has its roots from the years 1901-1929. [4] Much of Afghanistan's nationalism is rooted in postcolonialism with it arising following the independence of the Emirate of Afghanistan from the British Empire in 1919 after the Third Anglo-Afghan War. [5] Afghan nationalism has also been described as a cause of the Soviet–Afghan War due to the Afghan mujahideen fighting against what they called 'Soviet neocolonialism'. [5] Afghan nationalism has also been associated with the Taliban. [6] In the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Afghan nationalism or Afghan patriotism was described as incredibly weak. [5] Pakistan has also played a role in keeping Afghan nationalism down to prevent "Greater Afghanistan" from becoming a reality. [7]

Afghan nationalism became increasingly prominent in the late 1980s under Mohammed Najibullah. The ideology of the ruling party had gradually changed to one seeking pan-Afghan unity against what was called the threat posed by Pakistan. [8]

Following the 2021 Taliban offensive and subsequent take-over of Afghanistan in 2021, many in the Afghan diaspora, primarily non-Pashtun members began reassessing Afghan nationalism and the overlaps it has with Pashtun nationalism, this combined with the widely documented historical and current Persecution of Hazaras by the Taliban and various Pashtun-led governments has led to many outright rejecting the Afghan national identity mirroring earlier events such as the ID card (e-Tazkira) controversy. [9] The Taliban regime's unlawful detainment and torture of civilians in Panjshir Province as part of crackdowns on the opposing National Resistance Front of Afghanistan [10] has further inflamed such debates and ethnic tensions in the diaspora. This has led to much controversy between Pashtun Afghans and non-Pashtun Afghans leading to the re-emergence of Hazara nationalism and other forms of nationalistic sentiment amongst non-Pashtun members of the diaspora much to the dislike of Pashtun nationalists and Afghan nationalists in the Afghan diaspora.

Beliefs

Afghan nationalists have, at least historically, attempted to build an Afghan national identity as a united Afghan people with a common culture and history. [4] Afghan nationalists tend to have right-wing conservative positions like those of the Islamic Movement of Taliban, or left-wing Marxist/Socialist positions like those of the Khalqists, Daoud Khan's Revolutionary Party and supporters of the former President Najibullah. [11]

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The Afghan conflict refers to the series of events that have kept Afghanistan in a near-continuous state of armed conflict since the 1970s. Early instability followed the collapse of the Kingdom of Afghanistan in the largely non-violent 1973 coup d'état, which deposed Afghan monarch Mohammad Zahir Shah in absentia, ending his 40-year-long reign. With the concurrent establishment of the Republic of Afghanistan, headed by Mohammad Daoud Khan, the country's relatively peaceful and stable period in modern history came to an end. However, all-out fighting did not erupt until after 1978, when the Saur Revolution violently overthrew Khan's government and established the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Subsequent unrest over the radical reforms that were being pushed by the then-ruling People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) led to unprecedented violence, prompting a large-scale pro-PDPA military intervention by the Soviet Union in 1979. In the ensuing Soviet–Afghan War, the anti-Soviet Afghan mujahideen received extensive support from Pakistan, the United States, and Saudi Arabia in a joint covert effort that was dubbed Operation Cyclone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persecution of Hazaras</span> Persecution of the Hazaras ethnic group

The Hazaras have long been the subjects of persecution in Afghanistan. The Hazaras are mostly from Afghanistan, primarily from the central regions of Afghanistan, known as Hazarajat. Significant communities of Hazara people also live in Quetta, Pakistan, and in Mashad, Iran, as part of the Hazara and Afghan diasporas.

As a geographically fragmented state, Afghanistan is separated into as many as 14 ethnic groups that have historically faced divisions that devolved into political violence. This conflict reached its culminating point in the 1990s with the rise of the Taliban.

Anti-Pashtun sentiment refers to dislike and hostility towards Pashtuns, Pashtun culture, or the Pashto language. This includes fear as well as resentment exhibited by non-Pashtun ethnic majorities who have suffered decades of persecution at the hands of Pashtuns, including disappearances, murder, slavery, Pashtunization, and genocide, especially the Hazaras.

Hazara nationalism is a movement that claims the Hazara people, an ethnic group native to the Hazaristan region of Afghanistan, are a distinct nation and deserve a nation-state of their own. The movement propagates the view that Muslims are not a nation and that ethnic loyalty must surpass religious loyalty, though this view has been challenged by both the 1890s independence uprisings of Hazaristan and the systematic discrimination many Hazaras have historically faced within Afghanistan.

References

  1. ↑ "Internal and external responses to Taliban". South Asians for Human Rights.[ self-published source? ]
  2. ↑ Malik, Hafeez (27 July 2016). Soviet-Pakistan Relations and Post-Soviet Dynamics, 1947–92. ISBN   9781349105731.
  3. ↑ Caron, James M (2009). Cultural Histories of Pashtun Nationalism, Public Participation, and Social Inequality in Monarchic Afghanistan, 1905-1960.
  4. 1 2 Rasikh, Jawan (Fall 2010). "Nationalism in Afghanistan - A Descriptive Analysis". Middle Eastern Communities and Migrations Student Research Paper Series.
  5. 1 2 3 Hyman, Anthony (2002). "Nationalism in Afghanistan". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 34 (2): 299–315. JSTOR   3879829.
  6. ↑ Gopal, Anand (2016). "The Combined and Uneven Development of Afghan Nationalism". Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism. 16 (3): 478–492. doi:10.1111/sena.12206.
  7. ↑ Khalil, Ahmad Bilal (3 March 2017). "Pakistan, Islamism, and the Fear of Afghan Nationalism". The Diplomat.
  8. ↑ Atkinson, Darren (2015). "From Communism to Nationalism? The Trajectory of 'Post-Communist' Ideology in Afghanistan" (PDF).[ self-published source? ]
  9. ↑ "Who is an Afghan? Row over ID cards fuels ethnic tension". Reuters. 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  10. ↑ "Afghanistan: Taliban Torture Civilians in Panjshir". Human Rights Watch. 10 June 2022.
  11. ↑ Mansoor, Ehsan (2017). "Ethnicity, Religion and Nationalism in Afghanistan" (PDF). Himalayan & Central Asian Studies. 21 (2/3): 118–132.
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