By Shazia Anwer Cheema
The idea of motherland and the concept of nationalism are connected to each other, but this is not the primary force behind nationhood. Nation, a complex structure of societies situated within a specific geographical location is based on more profound linkages such as language, oral history, and collective consciousness. These three fundamentals bind individuals into social groups and groups into nations which then transform into the concept of motherland.
I have learned it the hard way, while living abroad anyone interested in becoming a citizen of a society and a member of a nationhood has to go through an extensive integration program, starting from learning the language to understanding the history and culture of the country. Failing to do so means that the integration process cannot be completed.
I am referring here to the recent guilt trip given by Afghanis (read as Afghans) to Pakistanis, a trip suggesting revisiting the morality and empathy lane and shared memories of brotherhood. I must accept I have been on that guilt trip and could not find any solid reasons to be guilty. Afghanis were and are not interested in anyways to integrating into the culture of plain fertile lands. It must be acknowledged that they have their reasons for not doing so, Afghanis share a nomadic/tribal culture with different sets of rules based on their own shared history and cultural values. The innate dislikeness towards the agrarian culture doesn’t let them assimilate with Pakistan. The question of Afghan brotherhood is a hybrid concept based on religion and time has tested that religion operates on a hyper-superficial level in any society and culture.
Afghanis living in Pakistan are always abusing Pakistan as a transitory economic goal and the idea of them becoming Pakistani by soul is beyond their cognitive perception. They are so deeply connected to their social belief system that any kind of social and cultural integration with Pakistan means leaving their own ways of life. The unwillingness to adapt and opt for the agrarian culture created Afghan ghettos across Pakistan, where Afghani in sub-societies are living by their own norms and traditions resulting in Pakistan being just an opportunity to exploit.
After so many failed experimentations, Pakistan finally decided to rewind another failed experiment of converting Afghanis into Pakistanis. Pakistan has had enough of Afghani’s exploitation and has decided to take some logical steps, already being practiced in the world such as border control, visas, and passports. Anywhere in the world foreigners are allowed to enter on the basis of their utility, like how much money they can bring, how much expertise they have, and above all are they even required for the country and so on. Afghans were never scrutinized on these parameters, they were allowed to enter Pakistan, they were never asked to pass a language test, and never expected to respect the history and culture of Pakistan that provided them a safe marketplace with tone loads of black money to create hegemony in the local market and now the situation has to turn out to be having tariff wars between local and Afghan traders. Afghanis make money in Pakistan and smuggle it to Afghanistan and with a culture of conflict and weaponry they bully and harass the locals by using their monopoly.
It is understood that Pakistan is not the motherland of Afghanis so why should they think about well-being of Pakistan instead of securing their economic gains?
The entire façade of Pak-Afghan brotherhood was standing on religion, but sociologists and anthropologists believe that religion is never a pre-requisite for a motherland and nationhood. The concept of motherland is based on emotional and symbolic significance which can have spiritual dimensions. The term is used for ancestral land and goes beyond mere physical and political boundaries. The ancestral roots of Pakistani culture and oral history are not aligned at any layer with Afghanis. The idea of them integrating into urban Pakistan was utopian which has brought drastic results.
The issue is an influx of Afghans in Pakistan with zero respect for its culture and traditions and animosity toward its nationhood
The strong sense of Afghan nationalism and adherence to conflicting cultural values allow Pakistan to show some nationhood to save its own nationalism and shared beliefs. The State must not be bothered about its appearance in order to protect its citizens’ fundamental rights. Right now, the issue is an influx of Afghans in Pakistan with zero respect for its culture and traditions and animosity toward its nationhood. Afghanis living in Pakistan not only express any intention of integration but rather show envy towards the Pakistanis. They exhibit deep resentment for even being in this situation and blame Pakistan for it. Pakistan has hosted them enough and Afghanistan has a stable government that is confident enough to plot and scheme against Pakistan and must take responsibility for its citizens. Pakistan is going through the worst economic turmoil and the Afghan government’s strategic maneuvering to destabilize Pakistan, even more, is unacceptable.
Today’s realities are crystal clear and Afghanistan brings only bad news to Pakistan and Pak-Afghan borders bring nothing good except drugs, terrorism, radicalization, sectarian killings, poliovirus, and a dirty-money market
The die-hard Afghanis enjoying the privileges of being Pakistani by draining its economy and then smuggling it to Afghanistan cannot be considered a goodwill gesture. Afghan government becoming overconfident just on the basis of that ton loads of black money cannot go unnoticed. The Afghani currency is more stable than the Pakistani rupee which means Afghanistan is in full capacity to take care of its citizens. It is understood that Pakistan is not the motherland of Afghanis so why should they think about the wellbeing of Pakistan and why should they not use it only for their social and economic gains?
It is the right time that Afghan government should take back its refugees who have no emotional and social ties with Pakistan and economic ties cannot prove that they are ready to integrate into society. Social integration is always based on emotional and psychological relations which then create symbolic and cultural relevance. So, it’s a simple math, Afghanis living in Pakistan has no interest in Pakistan so they must ease their mind by going back to their ancestral land where they can feel relevant. However, instead of accepting realities, Afghanis and Taliban-led Afghan interim government are putting pressure on Pakistan to let Afghanis live as they have been for four decades. Pakistan is now saying that enough is enough and Pakistan can no more face the brunt of Afghanis who are involved in all kinds of crimes.
Now Pakistan has taken the historic decision that all foreign nationals residing illegally in Pakistan must leave Pakistan by October 31, 2023, but development pains all who had been using this country as a neighbor’s junkyard
Today’s realities are crystal clear Afghanistan brings only bad news to Pakistan and Pak-Afghan borders bringing nothing good except drugs, terrorism, radicalization, sectarian killings, polio virus, and a dirty-money market. Pakistan had survived FATF sanctions in the past because of Afghans-run undocumented economies like Hawala and Hundi businesses and now rules have been tightened.
Much is being said and written nowadays about Pakistan-Afghanistan unpleasant foreign relations. Pakistan has its own side of the story while the Afghan interim government has its own. Pakistan always beats drums that it hosted over four million Afghanis for the last 40 years while Afghanis say that they never asked Pakistan to open its doors for them but it was foreign powers who directed Pakistan to host Afghanis to facilitate US-led and Pakistan-facilitated Afghan Jihad. They also blame Pakistan for using Afghanistan as a “grand Chessboard”. They accuse people in power in Pakistan of expanding their fortunes beyond Pakistan out of a blood-soaked war economy. This claim of Afghanis is debatable but it is a fact that Afghan Mujaheedins were already fighting against Soviet rule when Pakistan and the United States got it as an opportunity to break the Soviet Union. No other regional country accommodated Afghanis except Pakistan and Iran but Iran kept them in ironclad refugee camps and Pakistan let them live freely wherever they wished resulting in today’s Pakistan that has distorted social fabrics.
Now Pakistan has taken the historic decision that all foreign nationals residing illegally in Pakistan must leave Pakistan by October 31, 2023, but development pains all who had been using this country as a neighbor’s junkyard. This is a paradigm shift in Pak-Afghan cross-border movements and it will have far-reaching positive consequences for Pakistan.
Shazia Anwer Cheema is an author, and analyst and writes articles for national and international media outlets. She did her M.Phil in Cognitive Semiotics from Aarhus University Denmark and is currently completing her Ph.D. in Semiotics and Philosophy of Communication at Charles University Prague.
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this article/Opinion/Comment are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk (DND). Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk News Agency.
