Why don't Persian speakers, who make up the majority of Afghanistan's population, play a role in the Great Game?
Author: Fayaz Bahraman Najimi, analyst, member of the Sangar Advisory Board
There is a generally accepted consensus both inside and outside of Afghanistan that the Pashtuns/Afghans are not a dominant ethnic group but a single nation, hence you should interact with them.
Experts sit in foreign countries' political and economic institutions to understand the deep cultural and linguistic differences between Afghans and non-Afghans. For them, the word “Afghan” is like water, which takes on the color of the dish in which it is located! And for them, there are no other ethnic groups as an independent objects.
The historical literature of the last two centuries, both eastern and especially western, emerged from the colonial consequences of introducing the name Afghan as a single aggressive and destructive people.
Qajar Persia and modern Iran see Ashraf Afghan [Hotaki] and Ahmad Shah Durrani of the Indian subcontinent as invading Afghan leaders. Europeans and Americans became familiar with the name Afghan after 1840. Numerous works were written to identify the Afghans, beginning from Elphinstone, and after 1880 the name of the Afghan people was imposed on non-Afghans in the territory called Afghanistan.
The transfer of power and centralized tyranny of the Afghanization of Amir Abdulrahman, with the help of British India, by force of the bayonet and violence was forced upon all illiterate and obedient non-Afghan peoples. Since then, non-Afghans have been systematically de-identified.
The vast majority of Persian speakers have lost their identity and can think of nothing but Afghans and Afghanism. These are fascinated people who never tried to break free at any opportunity, but continued to give up with petty grievances. That is why being the first place in the public mind of the Persian speakers has become a taboo.
The weakness and incapacity of the great and growing identity of the Persian language and culture, which can create a high ethnic and national pride, has led to the leaders of the Persian-speaking politicians playing only a minor role and position, with no great claim to power. I will write about this in the future.
As long as there are no program-oriented pretenders to seize power among the Persian-speaking people, no one and no foreign power or institution will take such an ethnic group or ethnic groups seriously and will not recognize them as a party to the deal. Persian speakers in general and Tajiks and Hazaras, in particular, have been and will be out of the game for power due to the lack of independent ethnic identification symbols and intra-ethnic claims!
Afghans are aware of the conformist and submissive group psychology and realize that no Tajik or Hazara politician can even dream of becoming the first ruler, even for a moment. And they are well aware that among them there are many mercenaries who can be used as fuel to continue dominance. I will return to this discussion again and again.
But since this article is related to the current situation of our people within Afghanistan, it will be enough for me to hint at Ankara's efforts to create a "National Resistance Front" against the Taliban to at least make it clear how non-Afghan/non-Pashtun politicians are how aimless and naive.
Aside from the way the meetings in Ankara are organized, it is significant that all the so-called great leaders of the Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks shamefully agreed that their leader should be an Afghan/Pashtun.
Those who have problems with the leadership of Ahmad Massoud, instead of raising one of the names from non-Afghan faces, followed Sayyaf and accepted him as the leader of their "resistance" - of course, foreign interference in this regard, especially the return visits of Tom West, representative Department of State for Afghanistan, as well as visits by British officials have not been fruitless.
Those who have problems with the leadership of Ahmad Massoud, instead of raising one of the names from non-Afghan leaders, followed Sayyaf and accepted him as the leader of their "resistance" - of course, foreign interference in this regard, especially the return visits of Tom West, representative Department of State for Afghanistan, as well as visits by British officials have not been fruitless.
So, we see that Persian-speaking politicians have not yet reached the point of self-awareness and political wisdom to think about an alternative from within. Foreign countries also know very well that there is no consensus among Persian speakers about raising a personality as a leader from their own circle.
You can not engage in politics poetry and literature!
Politics is not a field of emotions, it is highly rational and based on the public interest. Since Persian speakers have a poor understanding of politics, their view of it does not go beyond personal gain.
The Taliban, who represent the Afghan/Pashtun ethnic group, now hold state power in a territory called Afghanistan. As for whether the Taliban emirate is a state or not, I have no doubt that it is a state, but with all the tribal characteristics that have existed since 1747.
We have seen that even in the era of the left or the liberals, governments could not get out of their ethnic and tribal shells! Both the so-called liberal-democratic world, led by the United States, and the so-called authoritarian countries, led by China and Russia, eagerly look at the "whims" of prostitutes like the Taliban.
Other ethnic groups are not an important part of the deal for them!
For foreign powers, whether eastern or western, it is important to legitimize the regime of the Pashtun Taliban or something like that, which, on the one hand, see it as a factor of strategic “stability”, and on the other hand, a factor of strategic “instability”.
The emotional and ignorant Persian-speaking political bloggers do not know this. They lean to one side every day with every wind. Instead of recognizing the great national interests and identifying their own and enemies within, they expect some foreigners to come to their aid, and who will become good friends with how much money, and who will remain bad friends.
There is no good friend in politics, and politics is interests!
Those who think politically and modernly must make their ethnic claims programmatically oriented. Politicians who rely on money and foreign support instead of relying on popular strength are, in fact, the same swords in the hands of the Pashtuns, who have been thrusting at the back of their people for decades under the slogans of "common Afghanistan", national and territorial unity, confrontation with the right to self-government, even federalism.
In order for the Persian-speaking peoples to become a force in the Bokhtariyon geography, they must first pay attention to their home, because there are many problems there. When we find our place, we will get ahead of the Afghans both in regional geopolitical and in big inter-regional games!
