A little Afghanistan in Kashmir

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Despite living away from their mainland, Pakhtun community has kept its culture and identity alive in Kashmir

Basharat Kareem

Identified by their unique attire, beautifully embroidered waistcoat on the Pathani dress and “Saafa’ on their head (traditional turban) Pakhtuns are ethnic group who migrated from different parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan to Kashmir before partition. Some 11 Kilometers from district Ganderbal in central Kashmir; the village Gutilbagh is the abode of the largest number of Pakhtun communities in Kashmir. This village is surrounded by beautiful mountains, paddy fields, cherry and apple orchards. These inhabitants of this village are known as ‘Pathan’ and they speak Pashto language which is the national language of Afghanistan and their Afghani culture gives them a unique identity in the valley.

“Before partition when there were no restrictions on the borders, people from Afghanistan and Pakistan used to visit Kashmir for trade and business purposes. Fascinated by the beauty of the valley they decided to settle here. Also some prominent contractors of Afghanistan would come to Kashmir for work, one of them was a contractor ‘Syed Zamashahnaami’ who brought some workers with himself and they found the valley very similar to their mainland Afghanistan and preferred to settle here. Since then, they became the permanent residents of Kashmir,” said Snobar Khan, chairman of Pakhtun United Forum.

Having a unique culture, from food habits to their greeting style, everything is different from other cultures. They greet people by simply putting their hand on the heart and nod slightly. Living away from their homeland, these people are striving to preserve their identity and culture. “We love our language and culture but we are also afraid of losing it. To preserve our identity we always try to bring our new generation more and more closer to our culture and we are proud that our young generation has kept our language and culture in its original form,” Snobar khan told Kashmir Despatch.

Despite living in this modern era, the younger generation of the community never hesitate to follow their culture. On any occasion or festival they can be seen wearing their traditional Pathani dress. Elders always wear ‘Dastaar’ on their head and children wear round shaped caps known as ‘Kabuli Khulai’. “I love my traditional dress and I do not like wearing modern clothes like jeans etc, if I did, how would one know that I belong to aPathan family”. Munazzar khan said, 12 year old Pakhtunboy.

The community is very religious and hard working. Being very religious, acquiring theological studies is their first priority. They always encourage their children to acquire religious studies.From very early age children start learning the holy book Quran and offer Salah (Namaz).Each board of the school or Masjid reads Pashto Quotations. “We always try to create an environment where the children of the community could relate with our mother tongue by writing Pashto quotes or words on the boards of the school or Masjid.” Yasir Khan said, Imam of the Masjid.

Pakhtun women occasionally step out from home and when they do, they always veil their face. Besides kitchen work, most of them gather at one place in their free time and engage in shawl embroidery work.

Technology has helped a lot to connect them with their culture. Holding a Smartphone they usually listen to Pakistani and AfghaniPashto music. In any marriage ceremony, women usually sing Pashto songs. Even their marriages are endogamous, as they marry within the community. They believe marrying within the community is a major way by which they can preserve their culture.

Despite living in Kashmir, speaking Kashmiri language is a bit difficult for them and children merely speak or understand any other language besides their mother tongue until they go to school. Even in their school they speak Pashto and some of their teachers belong to the community. “They are very hard working students, at first we find it difficult to interact with them but once entering the school, they learn many languages, like Urdu, Kashmiri and English”.Aijaz Ahmad said, a local Kashmiri school teacher.

One more factor which distinguishes their culture is having a round shaped clay oven ‘tanoor’ in their home courtyard where some Pakhtun women gather together and prepare ‘Naan’ for their family. They believe the market bread does not fit in their culture. “Our elders usually used to consume churned milk, ghee, meat and “Naan” as they would find it more healthier and beneficial but now with the passage of time some slight changes came in our food habit and now like Kashmiri people we also consume rice and “noon chai”. Shabir Ahmad said a shopkeeper.

They are very kind, polite and hospitable. “Whenever any guest visit at our home, we welcome them with Pashto word “Pakhair-Raagli’ which means most welcome and serve them ‘Gulgula’ a sweetbread with tea, which has been the part of our culture since decades and we don’t let our guest leave home without having some meal. Toyab Khan the head of ‘Jirga’ told Kashmir Despatch.

Jirga is the gathering of the elders in order to settle disputes in this community. “We people still follow ‘Jirga’ where we settle the disputes in our community by giving orders, and if anyone fails or does not obey the orders, he/she is ostracized from the community. Jirga is an important factor for us as it keeps our culture alive,” Toyab Khan added.

Besides Gutlibagh in Ganderbal, some Pakhtun families also live in district Anantnag, Baramulla, Kupwara and Kishtwar districts. “Before 1947, when my grandfather came from Pakistan to Gutlibagh, he was elected as a leader who represented the Pakhtun community but unfortunately after his death no one came forward to represent our community,” Toyab Khan further added.

The market of Gutlibagh is always in hustle and bustle, around five to six same colorful buses plying on the road, people wandering here and there, gathering at any shop and talking to each other in their mother tongue and each shop has their unique name like, Peshawari tanoor, Pathan medicate, Kohistani electronic etc, which makes this village look like a little Afghanistan in Kashmir valley.

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