The grievances of those living in Hazara division, the Hazarewals, are not over the name Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, since a large population of Hazara is of Pakhtun origin, myself included. The renaming of NWFP merely triggered expression of their frustration against the treatment meted out to them. The name issue is just a symptom, the root lies elsewhere.
The Hazarewals are labelled as "Panjabiyan" when they cross the Attock Bridge into the Pashto-speaking areas of the province, while they are labelled as "Pathans" when they go to Punjab. They are in a situation of neither here nor there.
The labelling of Hazarewals as "Panjabiyan" is an expression of contempt, since a Pakhtun does not hold much respect for Punjabis--let us be honest to ourselves. A Pakhtun's calling someone a "Punjabi" suggests the victim's alleged cowardice or lack of honour. There is a real issue, the unavoidable contempt in this for Hazarewals, that needs to be addressed.
In Punjab, the "Pathan" label similarly denotes contempt, though there is a tinge of humour to it. For a Punjabi the term "Pathan" can be a reference to someone's alleged lack of common sense. I remember Punjabi friends teasing me by saying that "Pathan koi zaat naheen hai. Yeh aik kaifiyat ka naam hai, jo kisi waqt kisi par bhi taari ho sakti hai." ("Pathan is not an ethnicity; it is a condition which can affect anyone, any time.") In other words, regardless of your ethnicity, you are a Pathan whenever you act foolish. These "Panjabiyan" or "Pathan" slurs are similar to Pakistanis' being called "Pakis" with contempt in the West. President Bush had to apologise when he referred to Pakistanis as "Pakis" in one of his speeches.
While Hazarewals' interaction with Punjabis is incidental, their interaction with the majority ethnic group of their own province is almost unavoidable. If you are a Hazarewal, you get the feel of this contemptuous behaviour as soon as you get into college or university in Peshawar, or get a job in a Pashto-speaking area. This contempt can develop into a sense of hatred in Hazarewals.
Most of my cousins studied in Peshawar University, where they were labelled as "Panjabiyan." They experienced discrimination not just by fellow students but also at the level of the administration. Particularly at the Khyber Medical College, which quite a few of my family members (including my brother and my wife) attended almost two decades ago.
At the time of the interview for admission there, the interviewers did everything possible--including references to the ethnic divide in the province--to try to persuade the applicants to consider admission, instead, in Ayub Medical College in Abbottabad. Fortunately, their applications could not be rejected out of hand because of the students' high grades.
I can quote a number of other examples of friends and family members who have suffered discrimination in employment in Pashto-speaking areas of the province that lie on the other side of the Attock Bridge. There are non-Pakhtuns living in other parts of the province too, so this contemptuous behaviour specifically against them is all the more painful for Hazarewals. The common perception among Hazarewals is this: they have been singled out by Pakhtun nationalists since Hazarewals played a pivotal role in the historic referendum of 1947 in the people of the province voted for its inclusion in Pakistan.
The reaction to the renaming of the province is purely a symptom of the frustration that has been brewing among Hazarewals against their fellow-provincials from across the Attock Bridge. If Hazarewals have accepted geographical names such as "Haripur" (after Hari Singh), "Abbottabad" (after Major Abbott) and "Mansehra" (after Maan Singh), why should they object to "Pakhtunkhwa," which, on the other hand, links them to their ethnic roots?
Most Hazarewals are descendents of proud Pakhtuns who fought against the Sikhs and liberated territory now called Hazara. Conversely, quite a few of those living across the Attock Bridge have nothing to do with the Pakhtun ethnicity but are claiming to have won back their identity as a result of this name-change. For example, the Bilours--who belong to the so-called "Khariaans," a slur which is a reference to Hindko-speaking residents of Peshawar--are non-Pakhtun by origin, even if they present themselves as champions of the Pakhtunkhwa cause.
Nobody finds the moral courage to discuss the contempt issue underlying the demand for a separate Hazara province, although everyone is aware of it. Whom are we trying to fool? If the root cause is not addressed, the unwillingness to face reality is only going to cause more harm in the long run.
Being a Pakhtun from Hazara, I know very well that the renaming of the province is not the real issue. It is only an indicator, and the issue obviously lies elsewhere. The grave situation, the disharmony between the ethnic groups in the province, needs to be addressed before it becomes too late to deal with it.
The writer is an accountant living in Dublin. Email: kashif.jahangiri@gmail.com
