National identity under question

I was surfing on the internet and I came across this very disturbing article on www.ariaye.com under the name “National Identity” written by someone under the pseudonym Sorab and at the end there was a reference to an email address owned by Mr. Abdul Ali Faiq living in UK.

The most ironic aspect of this article is that this Mr. Faiq doesn’t have the guts to come forward under his full name and is cowardly using a pseudonym of Sorab. This self-proclaimed non-Afghan is so smart that he leaves his real email address with his last name without realizing that he has written numerous other articles on different subjects on this very website. I am truly perplexed by his genius. Way to go Mr. Faiq!

Let me be clear on one point. Afghanistan is the home of all people who has the citizenship of this country regardless of his or her ethnic or religious background. The constitution of Afghanistan, which has been approved by the people’s representatives in the constitutional Loya Jirga (Grand Assembly), clearly states that the semantic meaning of Afghan should be applied to all citizens of Afghanistan. Not even ONE representative of Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen and many more protested or even doubted for a millisecond their national identity. This same national identity has been brutally attacked and disgraced by Mr. Faiq, the self-declared leader of all these non-Pashtun Afghans.

I would like to know how Mr. Faiq defines national identity. From his article it is apparent that he cannot differentiate between national and ethnic identities. There are different types of identities such as national, ethnic, local and professional identities. National identity is applied to all citizens of a country even though the country is made of different ethnic groups where their ethnic identity is remained intact. And this is the case in Afghanistan. For instance an Afghan could be a Tajik who at the same time can have different other local and professional identities. Being Afghan does not deprive anyone from his ethnic identity and heritage.

The author is desperately trying to give an impression of being a well-read and well-informed historian who unfortunately fails to present any references to back-up his ridiculous claims and his version or shall I say falsification and fabrication of Afghan history. I would be most obliged to get a hold of his sources and scrutinize them for facts. I would specifically want him to clarify where he has encountered on documents stating that the name Afghanistan was “invented” and “imposed” by British colonialists. Afghan and non-Afghan historic sources clearly say that the name Afghanistan was chosen by Loya Jirga during the reign of Great Ahmad Shah Durrani (Ahmad Shah Baba) in 1747, long before the East Indian Company took over the Indian subcontinent. How could Afghanistan have been “invented” by British colonialists? Maybe a simple and ordinary person like me might not comprehend a genius and autodidact historian like Mr. Faiq or shall I say Mr. Sorab.

Further more Mr. Faiq states that we should not call ourselves Afghans because the Afghan heritage is full of horrors, Taliban and paedophilia. At the same time he names lots of people who we should be proud of. Among these names comes the name of famous Persian poet - Sa’adi - the author of Bostan and Gulistan. I will present you with just one poem of his Excellency Sa’adi from Gulistan chapter five- on Love and Youth:

“Story 11

I asked one of the people of Baghdad what he thought of beardless youths. He replied: ‘There is no good in them for when one of them is yet delicate and wanted he is insolent; but when he becomes rough and is not wanted he is affable.’

When a beardless youth is beautiful and sweet 

His speech is bitter, his temper hasty. 

When his beard grows and he attains puberty 

He associates with men and seeks affection.”

I would like to remind the author that he should be very careful who he declares pedophiles and who he wants to be proud of. I would be more than happy to give you more revealing poems written by people he want to be proud of. Unlike you I have given you the proof of what you are looking for, namely pedophilia. Please be a man and write things under your own name instead of pseudonyms because we would appreciate it more.

Written by: Nesar Rahimi     

Nesar_rahimi@hotmail.com