Pashtunistan
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FlagofPakhtunistan.png
Pashtunistan is a Pakhtun-dominated area of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Pakistani (and formerly British Indian) part comprises an area from Chitral (in the north of Pakistan) to Sibi (in the southwest). This area in Pakistan is referred to as the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), but is also known as Afghania (indicating their ethnic likeness with the Afghan Pashtuns).
The language spoken in this area is Pashto. Many Pashtuns/Pakhtuns fought against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan during the occupation of that country.
The leaders in northern NWFP are Khan Wali Khan, Ajmal Khatak, Asfandyaar Khan, Afzal Khan, Moulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, Afrasiab Khattak and the Pashtun leaders in southern Pashtunistan are Mehmood Achakzai, Nawab Ayyaz Khan kakar, Moulana Sherani, and Naseer Kakar of PML-N.
Pashtuns practice Pashtunwali/Pakhtunwali, the indigenous culture (disputed — see talk page) of the Pashtuns.
The Pashtuns, also called Pukhtoons and Pakhtuns, are separated by the Durand Line, a nearly arbitrary border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pashtuns in Pakistan have become well integrated as Pakistanis and are prominent in Pakistani armed forces, business and politics. Some Pashtun tribes in Afghanistan still want to dissolve the Durand Line, however this is no longer possible nor desired by Pakistani Pakhtuns. In hindsight, the Durand Line saved Pakistani Pakhtuns from the destruction of Afghanistan post 1980.
External links
- Article #1 (http://www.afghanland.com/history/durrand.html)
- Article #2 (http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/rca/rca_200202_106_2_eng.txt)