Abstract: Influenced by historical traditions, Pakistan’s national policies, the ideology of the nation-state, and ethnic stereotypes, the Afghan diasporas in Pakistan have been constructed as the Other, distinct from mainstream Pakistani society. This imposed identity has subjected them to complex and shifting survival challenges, posing significant sociopolitical difficulties for Pakistan. The establishment of modern national borders has solidified territorial boundaries and replaced historically flexible policies, leaving Afghan diasporas in a state of identity uncertainty as they are caught between a lack of belonging and a yearning for it. Fieldwork and textual analysis are employed to examine how changes in identity and lived realities have contributed to a dual sense of alienation—both ethnic and national—among Afghan diasporas in Pakistan.

Key words: Afghan diaspora, identity, nation, state, dual alienation