The Political thought of Mahmood Khan Achakzai

The Political thought of Mahmood Khan Achakzai
Mahmud Khan Achakzai is a  rare and unique politician in AFPAK Politics. His political struggle is the continuity of his father - Abdus Samad Khan Achakzai’s resistance against the  British and later their heirs in Pakistan. His father was martyred while  fighting for the political rights of Pashtuns both on political and academic  fronts. Abdus Samad Khan Achakzai left a rich political legacy for Mahmud Khan  and all the wisdom which he had learnt from the life and work of his father  compelled him to form a political platform for uniting Pashtuns and urging them  to raise a collective voice for their rights.  The following are the features of Mahmud Khan’s political philosophy:
1- Pashtun Historic land
Mahmud  Khan maintains that the land between Oxus and Indus is the historical land of  Pashtuns which was divided during successive attacks on Afghan territory and  therefore currently is under the control of other nations. Pashtuns have been  losing their land to other nations due to lack of political consciousness, unity   and national stance on collective issues collective and if they still don’t  realize this fact they are destined to suffer more in political terms. Mahmud  Khan maintains that Pashtuns were divided only in the weak political sense by  the British after drawing the imaginary Durand line but that division could not  damage the Pashtun nation as their geographic position is like an integral  whole. Hence FATA had independent status and it should be given the same  independent status such that it should have its own legislature, executive and  judiciary run by the local Tribal Pashtuns. This makes Durand line an  international issue between Pakistan and Afghanistan and hence it should be  treated like Kashmir issue. Due to this complicated nature of Durand line issue,  Mahmud Khan defines Pakistan as the country of Pashtuns while Afghanistan as the   motherland of Pashtuns. As country is a variable entity while motherland is  permanent hence a person has natural inclination and love for motherland despite  a person’s citizenship which may belong to one country or another. He therefore  regards Afghanistan as the motherland and Pakistan as the country of Pashtuns. 
2- Democratic share in Power 
Mahmud Khan demands a share in  the governance and political power for Pakhtuns in Pakistan as it is the second  majority ethnic group. He believes that humongous armies, economies, nuclear  arsenals or ammunitions cannot bind the people of a country together. The glue  which keeps the various federations, ethnic groups, provinces or states of a  country consists of two elements – a social contract between the units   constituting the country and secondly the element of  democracy. He draws the attentions of the world towards the former USSR  and Czechoslovakia and urges the learned and wise ones to extract wisdom from  these historic political events. Making it a premise for Pakistan, which is also  proud of its nuclear teeth and huge military capabilities in the Muslim world,  he advises the ruling junta of Pakistan to devolve the powers in reality to the  people of Pakistan in a democratic manner. Being a staunch believer in both the  form as well as essence of democracy, his political party – Pashtunkhwa Milli  Awami Party- boycotted the 2008 elections in the Baluchistan province of  Pakistan. 
  3-    Non Interference 
Mahmud Khan believes in a foreign policy of “Do not interfere into the affairs of  others”. He is an advocate of non interference and non intervention in the  internal affairs of any neighbouring country. He maintains that Pakistani  military establishment has been responsible for the destruction and devastation of Afghanistan even after the Cold war. He has made it clear to the world times and again that the intelligence agencies and other allied military institutions  can sort out the AfPak issue in months if not in days once they have the  will to do so. He urges the military establishment to act like the five senses in a human body and just inform the state about any possible threats to the  solidarity or defense of the country instead of pursuing an aggressive foreign  policy of provocation and justifying the need for a humungous budget for the  security forces of the country. He maintains that irrespective of the economic  or political status of the nation state the neighbouring or any other state  should not interfere into the internal affairs of that nation state and should  respect her sovereignty and freedom. He accuses Pakistan of meddling into the  affairs of Afghanistan since the US-Russia war in Afghanistan in 1978 and  believes that Pakistan took active role in the instability of Afghanistan since  that war due to which Afghanistan became a battlefield between various Afghans  factions all of which were fighting to take control of Kabul. The same war also   made Afghanistan Chess ground of international players.
 4-   Self Control over Resources
Mahmud Khan demands for control of people over their natural resources. He blames Punjab of having hegemony when  it comes to the distribution of resources. He has been raising his voice for the  right of Pashtuns to have control over their water, electricity, minerals and other natural resources. His party has been actively involved in parliamentary  politics and has a marked presene in the South Pakhtunkhwa [currently called Baluchistan] province of Pakistan while is undergoing the phase of evolution in  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and rest of Pakistan.  The party has been actively involved in  raising a voice for the oppressed ethnicities in general and for Pashtuns in  particular. He is known to have never compromised over the rights of Pashtuns  with any institution of Pakistan including the strongest military establishment  which has been ruling Pakistan defacto since the time Pakistan was founded in  1947.  
5-  Sectarian and Ethnic ToleranceMahmud Khan is of the opinion  that sectarian tolerance has to be practiced till the whole world embraces one  philosophy of existence. Humans have to show respect for the religions and codes of life of other humans and society has to be based on the principle of peaceful co existence. The main emphasis of his concept of peaceful co existence,  however, is the fact that he believes in the equality of all religions in terms of respect. By equality in respect he means that irrespective of which sect is the torch bearer of truth, every sect should give the same status to that of  others as it demands for its own. The same principle is for ethnic tolerance. He demands respect for Pashto language, culture, music, art, history, social  institutions and other ethnic norms vis-a-vis same demands by any other ethnic group or even the state for their ethnic features and identity from national as well as international community. Mahmud Khan believes that the concept of self  respect needs to be practiced at collective level too.  While its realisation at the individual level is also necessary and has  been a part and parcel of Pakhtun life style but that practice is not sufficient  in the contemporary age. The implications of this notion have enormous  socio-political and even economic implications. It unconsciously inculcates the  seeds of competition in the collective psyche of a nation and brings it,  consequently, at par with the developed nations of the  world. 
6-  New Social Contract
Mahmud Khan Achakzai and his party are known as a ray of hope for the poor and oppressed people in the multi-tier corrupt societal structure of Pakistan. The current societal nomenclature of Pakistan consists of a colonial legacy layer, a sectarian layer and a security state layer. The implications of these layers necessitate a dictatorial form of governance while the zeitgeist of the age is democracy. Hence there is a constant state of conflict between the ruling junta and the ruled class. The priorities of both are contradictory to each other. The  artificial amalgam has already shown its weakness in early 1970 during the era of a military dictator which resulted in the creation of Bangla Desh. Pakistan is now facing the implications of the second layer of its chemistry and is facing the menace of terrorism in which every individual as well as institution is under  threat and hence afraid . Practically Pakistan is becoming a living hell for her inhabitants.
In this abyss of darkness, Mahmud Khan has been pressing for a new social contract  for the people of Pakistan based on truth and reconciliation in the true sense in which the chemistry of the state should be revisited, the constitutions and its guiding principles should be reviewed,  the aspirations and rights of the  people should be ensured, anti-progress restrictions and constraints in the constitution should be abolished and democratic process is given a chance to flourish without deforming its form or distorting its essence.