Pakhtunkhwa (also read as Pashtoonkhwa, or Pashtunkhwa) (Pashto/Pakhto: پښتونخوا) is a name used historicall for the Pashtun/Pakhtun areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan, which is also known as Afghania. More recently it has been used by the people of NWFP in Pakistan as the name with which they would like to rename the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) with, commonly known as Sarhad (Urdu/Persian: سرحد). Pakhtunkhwa the name of the terrtory or area where the Pashtoons/Pakhtuns/Afghans have lived for a long time, is an area between the river Oxes from the north and river Indus from the south east, in its north east Himalia mountain ranges and in the west its boundries lies with Russian states.

The name is very popular with the people of NWFP and has been approved by the democratically elected constitutional assembelly of the province but has been made into an issue mainly by a Punjab based political party namely the PML-N to create controversies by citing opposition to the name from a very small but very vocal group of politically motivated people in some districts of Hazara area. There are minorities in NWFP as there are in Punjab, Sindh and in Balochistan. Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party use the name for the area where the Pashtoon population , Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party defines the Pashtoonkhwa tertoery as " North Pashtoonkhwa . south Pashtoonkhwa .Attack ,Mainwali , Midle Pashtoonkhwa .Khan Shaheed Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai was the First Pashtoon leader who use the name pashtoonkhwa and demand it for his homeland .Mahmood Khan Achakzai also demand the name for the combine province of Pashtoon with in Pakistan by combining the divided Pashtoon into a single state by the name of Pashtoonkhwa / Afghania / Pashtoonistan. While the concept was first mentioned in the twentieth century by Khan Abdul Wali Khan and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the proposed name change has drawn some critisisum from the region's non-Pashtun communities, notably the Hindkowans, Seraikis Chitralis and other non-Pashto speaking inhabitants of the province encouraged by PML-N. Former president Zia-ul-Haq agreed with Bacha Khan to change the name but he contended that the term Pashtunistan had become controversial and was being politicized by Afghanistan. Bacha Khan suggested Pakhtunkhwa. But, again, some hitch was created and Zia-ul-Haq asked Bacha Khan to suggest another name.[1] At other times, Afghania has also been suggested as a possible alternative name for the province. Within the NWFP Provincial Assembly the first party to table a bill for the renaming of NWFP was the Pakistan Peoples Party NWFP chapter under Aftab Ahmad Sherpao. Sherpao cleverly exploited the renaming issue to cause a split between the Awami National Party and its right wing allies (traditional opponents of the ANP's ethnic politics and in particular renaming). The bill failed to pass in its first attempt but the issue did anger opponents in the party of the ANP's alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League (PML). The ANP leadership, however, cited its lack of a majority in the provincial assembly and how the issue has not been placed as part of a formal agreement with the leader of the Muslim League Nawaz Sharif as a reason for the bill's failure to pass. Prior to the 1997 general elections, the ANP obtained a formal commitment from Nawaz Sharif on the renaming issue as part of their pre-election political/electoral alliance. [2] After the alliances victory in the 1997 elections, the PPP under Aftab Sherpao again tabled a bill for a resolution on the renaming issue in the provincial assembly. The issue was eventually taken up by the Assembly in the latter half of 1997, and after a brief debate the NWFP Assembly speaker Hidayatullah Chamkani called the issue to a vote asking those members opposing the issue to stand up. This move caught the Muslim League members off guard as they had already decided they would not support the renaming issue. The Pakhtoonkhwa resolution was supported by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Jamaat-e-Islami[3], and the Jamiat Ulema -i- Islam (JUI) (F) while the PML with 37 members abstained. It was opposed only by two members both Pakhtuns - from the PML (J) Salim Saifullah and Humayun Saifullah.[1] Despite the resolutions' passage, the backlash in the right-wing press and conservative supporters of Nawaz Sharif in Punjab in particular was intense. The issue was then addressed at the Federal level as a formal renaming could only be done through a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds majority. Nawaz Sharif, under pressure from the right wing of his party and outside, backtracked on his previous commitment. In an attempt to save the alliance, Sharif made efforts to resolve the issue by instead offering a compromise name like Nuristan or Abasin. The offer was rejected by the Awami National Party and the ANP withdrew from the Federal and provincial governments [4] In May 2008 to accommodate a demand by the ANP, the PPP proposed that the name of the North-West Frontier Province be changed to Pakhtoonkhwa,[5][6], however the Muslim League Nawaz which has some support in the Hindko speaking Hazara region of the province announce it may opposed the name change because of it "being on ethnic grounds" due to opposition by its provincial leadership, yet the PML-N fails to explain that the names of all the other three provinces are on ethnic grounds.[7] The name Pakhtunkhwa was mentioned for the first time in the United Nation's General Assembly by Pakistani President Asif Zardari on 26th September 2008.[8]

Pakhtunkhwa, Pashtoonkhwa, or Pashtunkhwa (Template:Lang-ps) is a name used by Pashtun nationalists for the Pashtun areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan, which are historically known as Afghania. More recently it has been used by Pashtun nationalists in Pakistan as the name with which they would like to rename the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), commonly known as Sarhad (Urdu/Persian: سرحد).

Pashtoonkhwa the name of the terrtory or area where the pashtoons /Afghan live for along times this area is between the river oxes from the north and river Indus from the south east, in its north east Himalia mountain ranges and in the west its boundries lies with russian states. The name has controversies as the proposed region occupied by Pashtoons was historically occupied by Hazara or Hindko people (also share this region now with Pashtoons in Afghanistan and Pakistan) along with Gujri and Persian people. Therefore, there has been opposition from the native people and also the mainstream religiously defined Pashtoon people which tend to own the concept of Muslim Ummah as per teachings of Sufi saints Rahman Baba and Khushal Khan Khattak in this area rather than ethnic identity. Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party use the name for the area where the Pashtoon population , Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party defines the Pashtoonkhwa tertoery as " North Pashtoonkhwa . south Pashtoonkhwa .Attack ,Mainwali , Midle Pashtoonkhwa .Khan Shaheed Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai was the First Pashtoon leader who use the name pashtoonkhwa and demand it for his homeland .Mahmood Khan Achakzai also demand the name for the combine province of Pashtoon with in Pakistan by combining the divided Pashtoon into a single state by the name ofPashtoonkhwa / Afghania / Pashtoonistan.

While the concept was first mentioned in the twentieth century by Khan Abdul Wali Khan and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the proposed name change has drawn widespread criticism from the region's non-Pashtun communities, notably the Hindkowans, Seraikis Chitralis and other non-Pashto speaking inhabitants of the province who say they are 50 percent of the total population of the province.

Former president Zia-ul-Haq agreed with Bacha Khan to change the name but he contended that the term Pashtunistan had become controversial and was being politicized by Afghanistan. Bacha Khan suggested Pakhtunkhwa. But, again, some hitch was created and Zia-ul-Haq asked Bacha Khan to suggest another name.^[1] At other times, Khyber has also been suggested as a possible alternative name for the province.

Within the NWFP Provincial Assembly the first party to table a bill for the renaming of NWFP was the Pakistan Peoples Party NWFP chapter under Aftab Ahmad Sherpao. Sherpao cleverly exploited the renaming issue to cause a split between the Awami National Party and its right wing allies (traditional opponents of the ANP's ethnic politics and in particular renaming). The bill failed to pass in its first attempt but the issue did anger opponents in the party of the ANP's alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League (PML). The ANP leadership, however, cited its lack of a majority in the provincial assembly and how the issue has not been placed as part of a formal agreement with the leader of the Muslim League Nawaz Sharif as a reason for the bill's failure to pass. Prior to the 1997 general elections, the ANP obtained a formal commitment from Nawaz Sharif on the renaming issue as part of their pre-election political/electoral alliance. ^[2]

After the alliances victory in the 1997 elections, the PPP under Aftab Sherpao again tabled a bill for a resolution on the renaming issue in the provincial assembly. The issue was eventually taken up by the Assembly in the latter half of 1997, and after a brief debate the NWFP Assembly speaker Hidayatullah Chamkani called the issue to a vote asking those members opposing the issue to stand up. This move caught the Muslim League members off guard as they had already decided they would not support the renaming issue. The Pakhtoonkhwa resolution was supported by the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Jamaat-e-Islami^[3], and the Jamiat Ulema -i- Islam (JUI) (F) while the PML with 37 members abstained. It was opposed only by two members both Pakhtuns - from the PML (J) Salim Saifullah and Humayun Saifullah.^[1]

Despite the resolutions' passage, the backlash in the right-wing press and conservative supporters of Nawaz Sharif in Punjab in particular was intense. The issue was then addressed at the Federal level as a formal renaming could only be done through a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds majority. Nawaz Sharif, under pressure from the right wing of his party and outside, backtracked on his previous commitment. In an attempt to save the alliance, Sharif made efforts to resolve the issue by instead offering a compromise name like Nuristan or Abasin. The offer was rejected by the Awami National Party leadership and the ANP withdrew from the Federal and provincial governments ^[4]

In May 2008 to accommodate a demand by the ANP, the PPP proposed that the name of the North-West Frontier Province be changed to Pakhtoonkhwa,^[5][6], however the Muslim League Nawaz which has considerable support in the Hindko speaking Hazara region of the province announce it may opposed the name change because of it "being on ethnic grounds" due to opposition by its provincial leadership.^[7]

The name Pakhtunkhwa was mentioned for the first time in the United Nation's General Assembly by Pakistani President Asif Zardari on 26th September 2008.^[8]

• Pashto
• Pashtun people
• Pashtun diaspora
• Pashtun culture
• Pashtunistan

Pashtunkhwa- A Development Framework [1]

• http://sites.google.com/?hl=en&tab=w3&pli=1