Lala, you are mixing something here. Most Pashtuns also speak Farsi. Though it's not our language, yet we know it, as we have to communicate with other morons living there. (I don't speak Farsi)
It's like a Punjabi knowing Urdu.... get it?
Oh bhai I don't have anything against speaking Farsi, nay I love that language - I think its a must for anyone to learn more about the different Islamic paradigms of the past as so much of the works of great Muslim polymaths & poets are preserved in that language.
I was alluding to the Farsi speaking Pukhtoons & how the Bar Pukhtoons now & in the past found themselves in a subservient position to them or that even when they - the Bars - were ruling the country they didn't have much to show for it & now they think 'only if we had the Lar Pukhtoons with us' we'd sweep the polls through sheer numbers & make a minority out of the Non-Pukhtoons.
Urdu/hindi is langauge of U.P and delhi. Native langauges of pakistan are pashto, punjabi, sindhi, balochi etc...pashtuns of afghanistan are traditional hierchical rulers, they will always b majority. While pakhtuns will always b minority in pakistan.
Sorry I was away !
By that logic Pashto too is a derived language from some earlier Iranic language as is every other language a derivation of what came before; similar is the case of Urdu - We adopted it as our language either consciously or subconsciously but for all intents & purposes its as native to Pakistan as Pashto, Punjabi or any other language is for languages are after all derivatives of languages that precede them. Indo-Aryan, Iranic, Dardic etc. for most of our languages.
Similarly Urdu, even if one were to ignore the above argument, which would be fairly difficult to ignore for someone with even a semblance of appreciation of anthropology, if being born here is what makes one a native then we've got millions of Urdu speakers who've been born & bred here in Pakistan. The time-frame is hardly material & only a subconscious association of more 'time spent' here as somehow equating to 'more nativity' which is ludicrous otherwise the Pukhtoons should be seen as an invasive species the first time around the race that preceded them came to what we now call as the Pukhtoon belt; the same is the case with Punjabis, Sindhis, Baloch - for all of us !
Onto the Majority-Minority thing !
Ruling Afghanistan for the better part of a few centuries didn't work out so well for the Pukhtoons ! Lets face it - Afghanistan was an ailing state long before the Soviets invaded - No exports to speak off & a once proud race who couldn't even oust a few Bajauri Tribals despite trying once & despite all the rhetoric that came with it. They couldn't even do it when they had Soviet Union's backing despite Najibullah whipping up the Pukhtoonistan issue once more during those times. Being a majority hasn't really worked out for them that well. And now things are even worse - For the past many years & even during the before the rise of the Taliban supported by Pakistan, the Pukhtoons of Afghanistan were utterly powerless against the Farsiwans from up North - That doesn't really do well in terms of building credibility for the 'traditionally in power' thing that much.
And do you know why that is so ? Because the Lar Pukhtoons were the ones who didn't sign away their freedom & continued fighting despite being thrown to the British & reaffirmed numerous times by their beloved Bars from across the Durand Line. The Lar Pukhtoons are the ones who are the true inheritors of Ahmed Shah Baba's fierce warrior spirit, of Khushal Khan Khattak's fierce independence & Rehman Baba's tempered inclusive culture. Too bad some of the last bit was lost when we opened the flood gates & let the Bars in.
So my friend this Minority, as you call them, are exponentially better than the Majority from across the border ! Similarly this Majority - We - are exponentially better than the Minority from across the border; we've been proud to have Pukhtoons leading us in bureaucracy, the armed forces or even the Government.
@
Hyperion
