All India Pakhtoon Jirga-e-Hind

The All India Pakhtoon Jirga-e-Hind (Pashto: آل انډیا پښتون جرګه هند , Urdu: آل انڈیا پشتون جرگہ ہند), commonly known as the Jirga-e-Hind (Pashto: جرګه هند , Urdu: جرگہ ہند), is an organisation representing the interests of Pashtuns in India. It is chaired by Yasmin Nigar Khan.[1]

Activities

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The All India Pakthoon Jirga-e-Hind seeks to provide 3,200,000 Pashtuns living and working within the Republic of India with Indian citizenship.[2][3][4] It appeals to an agreement made between Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Jawaharlal Nehru that would enable Pashtuns who wished to stay in India after its partition to do so;[2] Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and the Khudai Khidmatgar had strongly opposed the partition of India.[5]

The organisation wishes to see the creation of two universities in Delhi and Calcutta in honour of Indian independence movement activist Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan.[2] These universities would provide an education for the Pashtuns of Afghanistan who wish to study in India, although others would receive admission as well.[2]

The All India Pakthoon Jirga-e-Hind has advocated for the merger of the North West Frontier Province in Pakistan with the country of Afghanistan.[6] It argues that the NWFP was leased to the British for one hundred years by Afghanistan and so it should be returned to Afghanistan.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Bacha Khan's great-granddaughter says Pakistan was behind attack on university". The Khaama Press News Agency. 23 January 2016. The great-granddaughter of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan or Bacha Khan says that Pakistan was behind the university attack in which students were butchered. She has rejected the claim of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that accepted responsibility for attack on Bacha Khan University, named after her great-grandfather, saying it was done by Islamabad to "vitiate the minds" of Pakistani Pashtuns against the people of Afghanistan. In an interview with Hindustan Times, Yasmin Nigar Khan, 42, who heads the All India Pakhtoon Jirga-e-Hind, has argued that if this is not the cause then, why would the Taliban attack the North West Frontier Province every time, instead of striking in the Punjab or Sindh provinces?
  2. ^ a b c d Ali, Arshad (15 February 2018). "Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan's great granddaughter seeks citizenship for 'Phastoons' in India". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Frontier Gandhi's granddaughter urges Centre to grant citizenship to Pathans". The News International. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  4. ^ Bhattacharya, Ravik (15 February 2018). "Frontier Gandhi's granddaughter urges Centre to grant citizenship to Pathans". The Indian Express. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  5. ^ Qasmi, Ali Usman; Robb, Megan Eaton (2017). Muslims against the Muslim League: Critiques of the Idea of Pakistan. Cambridge University Press. p. 2. ISBN 9781108621236.
  6. ^ a b Bhattacharya, Ravik (30 September 2016). "Now Frontier Gandhi's descendant to urge Modi to stand by Pakhtunistan". Retrieved 21 February 2019. Yasmin Nigar Khan president of All India Pashtu-Jirga-e-Hind, an organisation based in Kolkata that has been spearheading a movement for secession of Pakhtunwa area in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and its merger with Afghanistan. ... "NWFP were given on lease to the British for 100 years. But more than 120 years have passed by", she claimed, adding "NWFP has no business staying in Pakistan". "Our leaders are holding meetings in Kolkata to press our demand. We are planning to organise a rally against Pakistan in Kolkata after the Pujas at Shahid Minar. By the end of the year we will meet the Prime Minister", said Khan.