GlobalPost
01/15/2010
By Atash Parcha

“I’m proud Pashtoon. I’m proud Tajik. I’m proud Hazara. I’m proud Uzbek. I spit on you all for considering yourself higher than an Afghan. “ – some dude on TV.

I’m so sick of it.

Seriously, Pashtoons paranoid that any ‘Farsiwan’ is anti-Pashtoon and vice versa. Or Tajiks going against Hazaras etc. And I resent groups such as the Pashtoon Society of USA or Tajiki Group of Australia bla bla and other crappy organisations as such that break Afghans into small groups. Why not Afghans in general? Why does it have to be broken into ethnic groups? There is so much hostility — it’s unbelievable.

Pashtoons hating Dari and Tajik Afghans hating Pashto – when will they accept their differences and realise it’s the same land and same people? When will they realise it was the pride in their tribe/provinces that brought this country down? They defended their province against insurgents, how about standing together and protecting their country — their Afghanistan!

The time when Afghans need to be united most against murderers and thieves – they are breaking down into provinces, villages, tribes etc. And they are proud of it too. Why? The repercussions it had last time – is it really worth it? To group ourselves and have so much pride that it causes us to look down on the other ethnic groups?

Nangarhar is a clear example because I’ve witnessed it myself - the villagers from one village think they are better than the village next to them because that village has very ‘dumb people’. And this is INSIDE Nangarhar – so someone from Mazaar or Herat or Panjshir to them is a complete outsider. And I’m sure this happens in other provinces too, not only Nangarhar.

If this continues, God forbid, dare I say why not chop Afghanistan into different countries? It’s a shame, Afghans are so hospitable to western foreigners, but amongst themselves — there’s so much rivalry and hostility.

If your Tajik, embrace the Pashtoon culture. If your Pashtoon, embrace the Tajik culture. And the same goes for Hazaras and Uzbeks. Learn the different languages and cultures that exist in Afghanistan and accept that we’re all one. Teach both languages to your children and pass on the values of unity.

I grew up not knowing about the provinces and the ethnic divisions that exist in Afghanistan and I thank my parents for that. I have friends who are Afghan and I had no idea which provinces they were from and quite frankly, I didn’t care because it didn’t matter — until I came to Afghanistan and learned of the differences that exist.

Through my veins, there runs Pashtoon blood with a bit of Tajik blood. Don’t want to single out my ethnicity but I’m mainly Pashtoon but I didn’t speak a word of Pashto until I married my husband and learned from his family. I’m happy to say that I was a Dari speaking Pashtoon because it meant I had both in me and that made me an Afghan and I salute my parents for that. I’m even prouder today because I can speak both Dari and Pashto – both are the languages of Afghanistan, equally. And I’m a proud Australian-Afghan.

I hope to teach our children both Dari and Pashto and teach them they are Afghan, and not from a particular province. Inshallah.

United we stand, divided we fall.

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Blog: Rejuvenation of an Afghan Soul
Blogger: Atash Parcha, Author, "Rejuvenation of an Afghan Soul" blog
I was told to write a biography, but I decided to make this a bit more interesting than just mere facts. By the way, I’m Atash Parcha (not my real name, it’s a pseudonym).