Military operation in Swat

According to UN, 2.2 million Pashtuns have been displaced from Swat, Buner, Dir, Bajaur and Waziristan by the so-called war between Pakistan Army and Islamic militants in the north-west Pakistan and many have been killed. Some of them have been given shelter in the camps established by UN and the Pakhunkhwa  government in settled districts and a lot have been accommodated by common people of Sawabi, Mardan, Nowshehra, Charsada, Peshawar in their houses and hujras (guest houses) according to Pashtun tradition of hospitality and filial responsibility. A lot of them are still trapped in the war-zone and are facing immense difficulties including curfews, scarcity of food, and threat to their life both from indiscriminate military bombardment and brutality of Taleban. 

Women, children, and elderly  people have particularly been affected by the war. They are staying in camps in cramped conditions and have limited access to clean drinking water and electricity.  The sweltering heat of Pakistan’s summer is further adding to their agonies.  According to UN, the situation is precarious and may lead to greater humanitarian crisis if adequate aid could not reach these IDPs.

In these circumstances, some Pashtun families in distress tried to flee to the relative security of other provinces. These families that included mostly women and children were stopped at the Sindh-Punjab border by the Sindh police on orders from Sindh government and forced to wait in scorching heat for hours. They were ultimately asked to return to Pukhthunkhwa (NWFP). MQM and Sindhi political groups are already agitating against the entry of Pashtun IDPs into Sindh. And Punjab government has decided not to allow IDPs of Pukhtunkhwa (NWFP) in Punjab. Besides, Pashtun families are being harassed by Punjab police in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The collation of Canadian Pashtun organizations and all Pashtuns condemn these cruel acts of the Punjab and Sindh governments and consider it against the basic human feelings and ethics of empathy towards fellow humans in distress. It is also against the tenets of Islam, which emphasize help to needy people and civic principles of modern statehood that give equal rights to all citizens within state. 

We believe that the acts above have disproved the claims that Pakistan is a home-land of all living within its boundaries. It is increasingly becoming evident that the so-called Pakistani and Muslim brotherhood were the tools in the hands of the industrial and bureaucratic classes from Karachi and Central Punjab to exploit the rest of the people for their benefit.

These events should awaken Pashtuns and liberal and secular forces to the gravity of situation and to the need for finding ways for ending their predicament. We appeal you all independent of political affiliation and place of residence to sit together and think about Pashtuns  status and future in Pakistan and the broader region. The sooner we do this, the more secure our future will be.  Otherwise Balkanization of Pakistan is inevitable.

Jahan Zeb

Pashtun Peace Forum Canada

South Asian Peoples Unity Conference

The South Asian Peoples Forum (SAPF) has successfully concluded a South Asian Peoples Unity Conference in conjunction with the 2nd annual Faiz Peace Festival, Toronto. The Conference was held on the premises of the University of Toronto, Canada, between April 23-26th, 2009. The delegates came from Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Islamabad, California, New York, Birmingham,  London-UK, Ottawa, Waterloo and Toronto. 

Abid Hasan Minto, and Sharene Razack opened the conference. Presently you can view Sharene Razack’s contribution here 

Click To Play

The participants discussed the crises in Sri Lanka, Imperialism in South Asia, State Repression in South Asian countries and Britain, the history and dilemmas of the Left in South Asian countries, and current struggles against Neoliberalism in South Asia and in the diaspora.  Sections of the conference can be viewed at  Panel on Imperialism  and at Panel on Sri-Lanka The film Amu (Dir: Sonali Bose) was screened during the conference, and raised a discussion about the state’s pogroms against minorities, focusing on the events of November, 1984, New Delhi.

Recognizing the current crises in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, in particular, the delegates to the conference passed the following Resolutions at the close of the conference:

The  Conference on the Unity of the Peoples of South Asia

           i.          condemns all foreign intervention in the region and demands the immediate withdrawal of US, NATO, ISAF and other foreign troops from the region;

         ii.          opposes militarization and war preparations by our individual governments, and stands against nuclearization;

       iii.          condemns all acts of state terror and repression against our peoples and against all social and political movements under any pretext such as the war on terror, democracy, development, secularism, national unity and territorial integrity and others;

       iv.          condemns political violence and acts of terror by non-state actors against civilians in the name of religion, ethnicity and nationalism;

         v.          holds that neo-liberal offensives have weakened the security of all ordinary people of South Asia and other parts of the world, and supports all struggles in defence of livelihood, economic rights, well-being and social security; and

    vi.            resolves to disseminate the proceedings of the conference and to organize similar conferences in future.