The enmity and deceit of the Pashtuns against the Persian civilization are endless.
Author: Dr. Avliya Jalali, analyst, especially for Sangar
We are not even fair in our judgments. How?
These days, the problem of persecution of Afghanistani migrants in Iran has become the focus of attention of most domestic and international media.
They say the Iranians do not treat migrants from Afghanistan properly. This may be true to some extent in some cases, but it is not the whole reality.
As we know, the history of migration of Afghanistani/Khorasani citizens to the Islamic Republic of Iran began with the coup in Afghanistan in 1978 and expanded with the Russian occupation of the country.
The historical fatwa of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini, "Islam knows no borders, allow your Afghanistani brothers to enter Iran", saved the lives of millions of our people from certain death.
The second stage was the war of Hekmatyar, a Ghilzai and Pashtun, supported by Britain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Pakistan, against the government of Ustad Rabbani, a Tajik/Persian, supported by Russia, Iran, and India.
The third stage, the mass migration of Afghanistanis, occurred after the transfer of power to the Taliban in 2021.
The difference between this stage and the previous ones was that the presence of Afghanistani citizens was/is larger than the host country expected. According to official data, the number of Afghanistani refugees in Iran is estimated at 5–6 million people, and according to unofficial data, more than 8–10 million.
The reality is that managing such a large population is not easy while the country's government and nation have been under severe international sanctions for 45 years.
Another problem is the ethnic and tribal differences in this country. Although nothing has been said officially, it appears that non-Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic groups do not view the presence of Persian-speaking Afghanistani immigrants positively and interpret their presence not only as an opportunity but also as a threat.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the government of this country allows migrants from Afghanistan only to Persian-speaking cities, since only Mashhad, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tehran, Karaj, Qazvin, Qom, etc. issue visits and work permits. It must be rooted in this issue.
The second issue is the Iranian government’s support for Afghanistani refugees, which foreign media and opponents of the Iranian government do not like. Although they have been suffering from migration for years, they don't seem to mind exaggerating and exerting political pressure through such minor incidents from time to time.
The third problem is the unrealistic view of our people. We all know that after the transfer of power to the Taliban, 150 thousands of our citizens migrated to Western countries, and the entire system of these countries collapsed. Three years have passed and they have not yet been able to manage this small population and integrate it into their society. Some of them are still in camps in the UAE, Qatar, Pakistan, etc.
Despite all the shortcomings, more than 600 thousand of our girls and boys now study for free in schools along with Iranian children, more than 130,000 Afghanistani students receive higher education at universities, and more than five million earn honest bread for their children.
These services cannot be ignored or compromised by one or two evil people.
Finally, those who live in this country legally and respect the culture of this land have no problems with either the local people or the police. The behavior of Iranians towards such people is completely humane and respectful.
However, the reality is that some of our citizens do not respect the culture and traditions of the host society. They appear and behave in public places so that you melt like ice with shame.
Such people behave indecently in the subway, parks, and public places as much as they want.
Considering that several recent bloody incidents in the country were carried out by Pashtun-Afghan youth and damaged the public opinion of the people of this country towards migrants from Afghanistan, there are fears that all these incidents are being started as part of the ruling tribe's program to catch former soldiers and officers! The Iranians will expel them from Iran, and they will then Taliban detain them in Afghanistan and destroy them.
In any case, one thing is clear: the tribe (pashtun)'s hostility to Persian civilization is endless.