The Pashtun living on either side of the Durand Line are bearing the brunt of both terrorism and counter-terrorism. They have suffered because of the “jihad” against the former USSR. They have suffered also because they fulfil a government’s need for “strategic depth.” Now it is mostly the so-called war on terror. In this violent game the major players never bothered about the people whom they used in the furtherance of their regional agendas. What happened in the region, and what is happening in it now, is the result of the sharply conflicting agendas of the major players in the game.

In this mess the neighbours of the Pashtun region between the Oxus and the Indus are as responsible as the big powers for the sufferings of the people of the region. Pakistan, India, Iran, China — as well as Saudi Arabia, Russia and the US — all have long-term strategic agendas in the region, which are pursued at the cost of the Pashtun people.

But the most astonishing and regrettable aspect of this game is that these regional and global players have never regarded the Pashtun people of the region as the ultimate victims of the violence they have unleashed and are furthering.

The Pashtun see the policy of “strategic depth” as representing a deep grave for the Pashtun people. They believe that what is happening in the region since the withdrawal of the Soviet forces from Afghanistan in the late eighties ultimately has its roots in this strategic depth concept. First, the mujaheedin against the Soviet Union were sacrificed as pawns for strategic depth. When this failed to achieve the objective, the Taliban were installed in Afghanistan. The Taliban brought peace in Afghanistan, but that of the graveyard, by the use of brutal force against those who did not support their medieval version of Islam.

Initially, the US was happy with what was going on in Afghanistan, but after the international community expressed concerns over the threat the Taliban posed to civilisation, and particularly after the Sept 11 attacks, things took a turn and at this point began the second phase of the virtual genocide against the Pashtun people. After the United States’ direct intervention in Afghanistan, the pursuit of strategic depth carried the war over to the eastern side of the Durand Line, right into the settled areas of the Pashtun population in Pakistani territory.

The Pashtun intelligentsia is resentful of the mainstream media of Pakistan. In spite of the brutality the Taliban inflicted upon women and children, the general public and the security forces, there are still elements in the media who support the militants and their version of “jihad.” Besides, the media provides more space to the proponents of strategic depth and to anti-Pashtun elements. People who advocate the waging of jihad on neighbouring countries are given wider space on television, and this serves to brainwash the youth into indulging in hatred and destruction.

The talk shows, which have an increasing potential of moulding viewers’ opinion, do not give space to the Pashtun intelligentsia. These shows often invite “analysts” who even do not know the geography of FATA and NWFP. The Pashtun intelligentsia considers this selective and exclusive approach of the mainstream media a threat to the national integrity of Pakistan. These concerns and grievances are not baseless. Pakistani decision-makers, the media and civil society need to listen to the Pashtun, as should the international community.

The writer is a freelance contributor. Email: ztorwali@gmail .com