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Anti-Pashtun sentiment refers to prejudice, discrimination, or hostility directed towardsPashtuns,Pashtun culture, or thePashto language. Historically, this sentiment has roots in theBritish colonial era, where Pashtuns were characterised in official accounts as fiercely independent and resistant to state authority. These portrayals were used to justify control policies in the tribal regions of present-dayPakistan andAfghanistan.[1][2]
In modern Pakistan, socio-political dynamics have sometimes contributed to perceptions of Pashtun communities as distinct or challenging to state authority. The advocacy for Pashtun rights, such as by thePashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), has occasionally resulted in accusations of marginalisation or misrepresentation of Pashtuns in official narratives.[3][4]
In Afghanistan, tensions have been reported between Pashtuns and other ethnic groups, particularly in regions dominated byTajiks andHazaras.Human Rights Watch has documented violence and displacement targeting Pashtuns, particularly after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.[5][6]
Stereotypes in media and public discourse have also shaped perceptions of Pashtuns. In some cases, Pashtuns have been associated with extremism or militancy, reinforcing societal biases.[7][8][9]
The traditionalrivalry for power and influence between the Pashtun majority and the otherethnic groups of Afghanistan such as theTajiks,Hazaras,Uzbeks andTurkmen, have often stirred anti-Pashtun sentiments among the latter. In1975, aJamiat-e Islami uprising broke out inPanjsher Valley against the rule ofAfghan prime minister andNationalistDaoud Khan, which was allegedly believed by some to have been "sparked by anti-Pashtun frustrations.[10] TheSettam-e-Melli, led by Tajik activistTahir Badakhshi, has been described as "an anti-Pashtun leftist mutation."[10] According toNabi Misdaq, the Settem-e-Melli "had an internal programme of provoking minorities to armed resurrection to stand up to Pashtuns."[11] Settem opposed the Pashtun-dominated,Khalq-ledgovernment in Kabul and is believed to be responsible for the murder ofAdolph Dubs.[12][13] TheShalleh-ye Javiyd, aMaoist political party founded in the 1960s that predominantly drew support fromShi'a Muslims and Hazaras, was similarly opposed to Pashtun rule in Afghanistan.[11]
However, Misdaq notes that these anti-Pashtun stances were usually engraved more in a "Shi'a-versus-SunniAfghan", "Dari-speaking-intellectuals-versus-Pashtun-rulers" and "majority-versus-minority" context rather than resentment on misrule or mistreatment by Pashtun kings and dynasties.[11] This could be because Afghan dynasties such as theDurrani Empire, although Pashtun by origin, had been considerablyPersianised and had even adopted theDari language overPashto; this cultural assimilation made theDurranis culturally familiar to Dari-speaking non-Pashtuns and neutralized any ethnic hegemony.[11]
TheRabanni government which ruled Afghanistan in the early and mid-1990s was viewed by theTaliban as corrupt, anti-Pashtun and responsible for civil war.[14]
A Human Right Watch (HRW) report published in 2002 stated that, 'following the collapse ofTaliban regime in Northern Afghanistan in 2001, a rise in Anti-Pashtun violence was reported in Northern Afghanistan. Ethnic Pashtuns from that area were subject to widespread abuses like killings, sexual violence, beatings, extortion, and looting'.[15] The Pashtuns were particularly targeted because their ethnicity was closely associated with Taliban, which could not be neglected by any evidence. The HRW report held three ethnically based parties like UzbekJunbish-i-Milli Islami Afghanistan, Tajik Jamiat-e Islami and HazaraHezbe Wahdat responsible for the abuses against Pashtuns in northern Afghanistan, but these accusations are confirmed only by the Pashtuns.[15] Many Afghan Pashtuns also held theNorthern Alliance responsible for the abuses committed against the Pashtuns communities in the rest of Afghanistan.[16]
Pashtuns are also stereotyped as 'wild and barbaric' in Afghanistan by non-Pashtun Afghans and by some other Pashtun Sub-Tribes.[17]
Many Afghan Pashtuns viewed theAfghan National Army (ANA) as being dominated by a Tajik-led anti-Pashtun ethnic coalition. The Tajiks, on the other hand, view the Pashtun population as largely aligned with the Taliban. This in turn has created a civil war-like situation in Afghanistan.[18][19]
Following independence, one of the factors of resentment among Pashtun population was theBritish-inheritedname of the North-West Frontier Province, which did not represent Pashtuns unlike provinces e.g.Punjab,Sindh,Balochistan which were all named after their resident ethnic groups.Rajmohan Gandhi mentions that "persisting with the imperial name for aformer empire's frontier province was nothing but anti-Pathan discrimination."[20]
