Name Change in Afghanistan

Kabul, Afghanistan - Ali Maisam Nazary - Thursday, September 28th, 2006 : goo

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Even to this day most people did not know when the name ‘Afghanistan’ was initially used. However, the name has caused rifts and tension between people, especially Pashtuns and non-Pashtuns. Today in Afghanistan we have a so-called Theocratic Democracy and so it is the people’s right and responsibility to choose the name of their own country. We know that ‘Afghanistan’ means “land of Afghans” or “land of Pashtuns” and the non-Pashtun majority were never asked whether or not they wish to accept this name. This is one of the major reasons why Afghanistan has always had ethnic tensions and ethnic discriminations. Non-Pashtuns feel that their rights as citizens have been undermined or taken away by naming this land “The land of Pashtuns.” Unlike other countries in the region, Afghanistan is made up of ethnic minorities and there has never been an ethnic majority. Nowadays when a Tajik or Hazara says “We need a name change” the government labels them as foreign agents and “sellouts.” One example is Latif Pedram, the co-founder of the National Congress Party of Afghanistan. During the presidential elections Pedram said that the country needed a name change and as a consequence he was almost thrown out of the elections.
The word ‘Afghanistan’ was first mentioned in English. When the British invaded Afghanistan there invasion spread from Attock to Kabul. Most of the invaded lands were predominantly Afghans or Pashtuns and therefore the British had no clue that there were also non-Pashtuns in other parts of the country. When the British overthrew Dost Mohammad Khan they proclaimed Shah Shuja the king of the Afghans and they started calling this little kingdom which was from Kabul to the Indus River ‘Afghan land.’ This proves that it wasn’t the Pashtuns who named this country ‘Afghanistan’ but the foreign imperialist British. But this name was not officially recognized and when Dost Mohamad Khan becomes Amir again he named himself “Amir e Khorasan” or “Amir of Khorasan.”
The oldest recorded document that has the Farsi version of Afghan land is the Gandomak Treaty signed by Yaquob Khan, the great grandson of Dost Mohamad Khan. The Farsi version of the Gandomak Treaty has the word Afghanistan written on it. “Afghan” is synonymous with Pashtun and “Istan” translates to ‘land’ in Persian. This treaty was dictated and written by the British. This illustrates that Afghanistan was not a name that the citizens chose or even agreed upon. Instead, it was a name that Imperialist powers forced upon us.
The first time which a ruler proclaimed that the official name of this land was Afghanistan was during the era of Abdur Rahman Khan. After the Durand Treaty in 1893, the government of Afghanistan officially recognized the name ‘Afghanistan.’ Abdur Rahman Khan tried to Pashtunize the country by forcing non-Pashtuns—especially those in the south and east—to move northward. He also started the Hazara Genocide which killed 75% of the Hazara population. Praising the name ‘Afghanistan’ is praising Abdur Rahman Khan and the English and their actions.
Today most non-Pashtuns have started organizations, website, and have written books on why we need a name change. They understand that if the name isn’t changed then there will never be national unity. It is the people’s choice, and not the government, on what the name of the country should be. It is, after all, where they live, work, and die. We need to understand that democracy guarantees this right. And if democracy truly exists in Afghanistan then we need to act now or the country will face the consequences in the future with civil and sectarian violence.

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