A mosque or a school? Pashtun's choice
Many years ago a wise man in a village thought he should do something good for his people. He had some money but he was not sure what he could do best with the money. He wanted spend to it on something which could benefit his people, something which could play an important role in shaping the minds of his people.
It turned out he had to choose between two things: Pashtuns constitute the majority of the population in Afghanistan but how many long distance radio and TV channels are there which are founded and run by Pashto speakers. None. We don’t have a single TV channel which could represent Pashtuns and promote Pashto.
Build a mosque or lay the foundation for a primary school.
People of the village gathered around and discussions on what was best for the village and its people began. Religious lobbyists pushed for a mosque, others for a school but the wise man’s mind guided him to make his ultimate choice: A school was needed more than a mosque.
The wise man in that village was Abdul Ghafar Khan, more famous as Bacha Khan. With time Pashtuns have realized that Bacha Khan wasn’t a man with mediocre intentions but a man with a vision and with a clear goal in his mind. Pashtuns needed schools and lots of them and Bacha Khan knew it.
I have pointed out many times in my articles the fact that the biggest problem Pashtuns seem to be facing is their mental setup. For a Pashtun there are two sacred things in the world - religion and money. Apart from these two driving forces it is almost impossible to find any other incentive which is mighty enough to make Pashtuns convinced of rising and struggling for a cause.
The choice Bacha Khan made wasn’t easy. It was a tough one. He knew that choosing the construction of a primary school over a mosque would upset many but at the same time he knew that it was the right thing to do for his people. How many Pashtun leaders would do the same if they were to choose between a mosque and a school? Not many.
Pashtuns constitute the majority of the population in Afghanistan but how many long distance radio and TV channels are there which are founded and run by Pashto speakers. None. We don’t have a single TV channel which could represent Pashtuns and promote Pashto.
Today all Afghans sit in front of their TV sets to watch Dari songs, Dari dramas and Dari films simply because there isn’t any other alternative. Dari speakers have every right to finance and advertise Dari, it’s their language and theyare doing what they should be doing. I respect them for that and they should be proud of their efforts. But when will Pashtuns begin to realize that they too have a language for which they have to work and advocate?
A TV channel that broadcasts its transmissions throughout the US and Europe is not merely a source of entertainment but one of the most effective mediums for promoting your language, your political and social ideologies and making them recognized among the masses. But this is something Pashtuns wouldn’t exert their energy and resources on. They are too busy fighting”the great evil” and its allies, collecting charities for construction of more and more mosques.
Nangarhar is a very poor province of Afghanistan and its people have a very hard time making enough money to make ends meet. But at the same time we witness that people with wealth and money in Jalalabad would rather spend their fortune on building gigantic mosques than helping the poor. The newly built mosque in Jalalabad is a crystal clear proof of the mentality that exists among Pashtuns. It is not only wrong, it’s tragic.
I feel I must clarify something here. I am a Muslim and my religion is Islam. I have a firm faith in Islamic teachings but at the same time I happen to have a language. Why should I only care for the one and totally ignore the other. Islam teaches us to keep balance in everything we do and that is why I consider it wrong to feel happy about colossal mosques in an otherwise impoverished country.
God bless our Fatherland.
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Zmong-Afghanistan
بېرته شاته