Pakhtun nation between Oxus and Indus is at a critical juncture of its history. Three decades of war in Afghanistan has literally devastated the infrastructure in Afghanistan and more than 3 million Afghans are living as refugees in neighboring Pakistan and Iran. Due to the vital geo-strategic position of Afghanistan, the western powers under the leadership of US are there to safeguard their vested interests in central and south Asia.

The Pakhtuns living in Pakistan are facing extreme exploitation of their water and mineral resources due to the indifferent and discriminatory policies of all those who belong to the echelons of power in Pakistan. They have been used against their fellow Afghan brothers in the name of religion. They have been pressurized to show morally unjustified loyalty to all the regimes who have been in power in Pakistan. All the revenue that has been earned from the water and mineral resources of Pashtoons have been going to the pockets of the Pakistani establishment for the last sixty years but still the extreme injustice is that despite of all these sacrifices of Pakhtuns at the altar of Pakistan, the Pakhtuns have been projected as religious fanatics and backward nation. They have been deprived of basic human rights by the decision makers of Pakistani establishment. Pakistani establishment has left no stones unturned to keep them geographically divided, economically poor and politically deprived nation.

The Pakhtun nation is divided into two main geographical units: Pakhtuns of Afghanistan and Pakhtuns of Pakistan. The Pakhtuns of Afghanistan are divided into two factions:

I. The religiously active and ISI backed Taliban who are fighting against the ISAF and trying to take over the reigns of power and striving to implement their version of Islam which suits the vested interests of Pakistani establishment.

II. The Pakhtuns who are skeptic about the future of Pakhtuns in Afghanistan due to the political turmoil and instability caused by the fight between the ISI backed Taliban and foreign forces and also internal ethnic differences between Pakhtun and non Pakhtun population.

On the other hand the Pakhtuns of Pakistan have been divided into five geographical units viz: NWFP, FATA, Balochistan, Western Punjab (Attock and Mianwali) and Karachi. The Pakhtuns of Pakistan are not only divided but also confused about their future due to the pro-Punjab cum Mahajir beaureocracy, biased institutions and a dictated constitution.

In the current geo-political scenario when Pakhtuns and their resources are being exploited they have two options for their existence and survival.

a) Evolutionary approach for their temporary well being within current territorial units.

b) Revolutionary approach for their long term welfare as a nation.

In evolutionary approach Pakhtuns have to develop themselves in their current geographical territories whether they are in Afghanistan or in Pakistan while the revolutionary approach dictates that all Pakhtuns should strive for their right of self determination either by having a separate Pakhtun nation state based on the tenets of Pakhtunwali or a merger with Afghanistan due to the expiry of Durand treaty.

On the contrary the short term goals for Pakhtuns across the Durand line should be:

1) To get their political right of governance in Afghanistan as they are in majority but giving due rights to the minority ethnic groups at the same time.

2) To reclaim and unite the Pakhtun majority areas of current �NWFP�, �FATA�, Pakhtun areas of Western Punjab like Attock & Mianwali and Pakhtun part of Balochistan into a single united province to be called Pakhtunistan or Pakhtunkhwa.

3) To claim complete provincial autonomy, royalty of all the natural resources including water, natural gas and precious stone etc, reducing the responsibilities of the federal government to only few portfolios, effective devolution of powers from center to provinces and proportionate representation in all federal institutions.

4) To claim extra budget for education and development on priority and emergency basis for the development of deprived areas of Pakhtuns, from Islamabad which has been enjoying all the aid, for the last three decades, that has been given by the world community for the development and rehabilitation of Pakhtuns but which has been used for killing Pakhtuns on both sides of the border.