Pashtun a contested legacy by Tilak Devasher

Pashtun a contested legacy by Tilak Devasher

Tilak was the security advisor and has written three other books about Pakistan and Baluchistan. Though this is not a series, it is highly recommended that you read this after the earlier books. Alternatively you can read my summary of those books before you read this one.

This is a very long review of the book which is non fiction so no spoilers!

In case you do read the book then it’s like a revision or preview and in case you don’t then it’s a summary with the essential points covered first hand.

A big 5/5 for the extensive analysis and research! In some places though it becomes repetitive so be patient! Its a long book but really interesting especially in the present situation.

So basically this is a book about Pashtuns who straddle an area of more than 100000 square miles! This Pashtunia is divided by British era Durand line into Afghanistan and Pakistan! So despite being the largest muslim tribal population in the world, they are without a state of their own!

So as the history goes, in 1975, Ghaffar Khan’s son, Wali Khan, the National Awami Party leader, was asked to clarify whether he was ‘a Mus-lim, a Pakistani or a Pashtun first. His famous reply was that he was ‘a six-thou-sand-year-old Pashtun, a thousand-year-old Muslim and a twenty-seven-year-old Pakistani!

What is in a name? Pakhtun vs Afghan vs Pathan vs Pashtun! The author explains the nomenclature in this! As far as the language goes, you have the language Pakhto in the north vs Pashto in the south!

Every major country has invaded this area including UK, Russia and America. They finally had to sit in the negotiation table since Pashtuns do not know defeat!
Then the author talks about the Khyber pass which can be crossed only with either lots of money or lots of force!

How Pashtuns who have migrated out have settled and made a great name for themselves like Khiljis, Lodhis and Suris is well described in the introduction.

All rulers in Afghanistan have more or less been Pashtuns! and many such leaders in Pakistan and India are Pasthuns!

The origin and the notority of Quetta and the Hindu Khush mountain pass is described as an introduction of the gloom to come!

The Origin of the pasthuns is then described with various theories of Indian and even as far as Jew origin! The belief of course if the direct link to the Holy Prophet and that has been described in detail. The author also described the original tribes of Abdali and Lodi and others.

The next chapter is the Characteristics of tribes and starts by saying that the Pasthuns are regarded as perhaps the most highly segmentary ethnic groups in the world! So each 350 tribes are composed of khels or clans who are in turn divided into family groups called Kahols! each Kahol is made up of nuclear family called Koranays!

The jirga, the assembly of adult male Pashtuns, is an indigenous institution to discuss, deliberate and mediate on specific questions and provide a mechanism for speedy conflict resolution in Pashtun so-ciety. Its decisions are based on a combination of the sharia and Pashtunwali. Key features of the jirga include people sitting in a large circle in the open to avoid even symbolic hierarchy, and hin which there is no place for the mullah; he sits on the side and prays for the success of the jirga; the mashars or spin giris (white-bearded elders), because of their knowledge and experience, play an important role in the deliberations; the jirga rules by consensus.

The term used in mediating disputes is teega that means a fixed date until which all hostilities between warring factions are to be suspended. The tribe holding the jirga then ensures the implementation of the teega. According to Akbar Ahmed, there is an interesting theory that this custom derives from a pre-Islamic Rajput practice of writing an agreement on a stone and placing it at a place selected by the tribe.

A jirga can often sanction the formation of lashkars (tribal militia) for maintenance of law and order, self-defence, along with the enforcement of the jirga’s deci-sions. The lashkar is thus the military arm of the jirga for the formation of which tribesmen are called to fight and each family contributes manpower and weapons. Lashkar, as used in the tribal sense can be employed as a crusade or a holy war!

Hope these terms can clarify so many groups which we listen in the news!

The concept of jirga has changed since the 1980s, when the emergence of the mujahideen created a new type of leadership in FATA, not based on lineage or official position.

During the anti-Soviet war, under the influence of the Arabs, a new institution came into use in Afghanistan: shura, that was an Arabic term referring to the first meetings of the Muslim ummah. There are several differences between jirga and shura. The shura is more representative in character, has a relatively permanent membership, and meets more regularly.
Jirgas, on the other hand, meet ad hoc when a problem arises.

One of the constants in Pashtun history is the abiding and intense rivalry between the Durranis and the Ghilzais. This division between these two confederacies has been at the root of centuries of conflict and intrigue in Afghanistan.

Pashtunwali; may God keep you away from the venom of the cobra the teeth of the tiger and the vengeance of the Afghans! An advice given to Alexander!
This is very important since they are born warriors!

The author talks about the unique and defining code of Pashtunwali or ‘the way of the Pashtun!’

Defending of honour with weapon!

An extreme example of this, according to Akbar Ahmed, involved a woman, the most sensitive subject where a man’s hon-our is concerned. It tells of a man who gave shelter to a couple escaping from a tribal feud and asked his oldest son to care of them. Before long, the son developed a relationship with the man’s wife. The man complained to the host, who responded by arranging a feast. At the end of it, the host asked everyone to say a prayer, then pulled out his revolver and shot six bullets into his son. After the forty days of Islamic mourning, the host called on the man to shoot his wife with the same revolver and uphold his honour. Upon her death, the host adopted the man as his own son and arranged a marriage between him and his dead son’s wife!

Giving hospitality to guest is one of the prime aspects of afghan honour! This is done without expecting anything from the guest. A recent example of this was Mullah Omar refusing to hand over Osama bin Ladin who was his guest the Americans. Or even to fellow Muslims! Here he prioritised his Pashtunwali over Islamic principle!

A whole chapter is dedicated to the struggle and backwardness of women and their oppression. Lack of opportunities and restrictions; many are known and some are elaborated by the author in detail including the role of Tablighi Jamaat and Taliban.

Language belongs to the indo-iranian branch of Indo- European family.

The history of Afghanistan from the kings to the leaders has been extensively described. He talks about Ahmed Shan Durani’s empire and his legacy

The role of British via East India Company and this area has been discussed in detail since for the British, the security of its colony in India was the primary objective and to achieve this they had to maintain peace along the North West frontier.

The various moves for primacy made by Britain and Russia in the nineteenth century in Central Asia and Pashtunistan was given the moniker of the Great Game!

The Durand Line named after Mortimer Durand in an agreement between Abdur Rahman Khan the Amir of Afghanistan and Durand who was the Foreign secretary of Indian demarcated spheres of influence between British India and Afghanistan.
The important thing to note is that NO Afghanistan government has every recognized this as the international political border. And several other controversies associated with this has been discussed in detail.

An interesting chapter on Non violence and that too much before Gandhi has been described! He talks about Ghaffar Khan or Frontier Gandhi or Badshah Khan or Baccha Khan! It was an eye opener for me especially when I read through the narration of principles of Non violence or Khudai Khidmatgar!

A complex myriad of problems in the NWFP or the province controlled by British where the muslim majority actually voted for Congress. Ghaffar Khan had the support and hope that this region will become a part of India. But a muslim majority region becoming a part of India was not comfortable to both Lord Mount Batten and Jhinnah and it was a losing battle from there.

The FATA or the federally administered tribal areas is the hinge that joins Pakistan and Afghanistan, geographically and strategically. The The author describes the division and the areas of this control. He also summarises the regions in the area. While It is possible to consider the FATA as a Single entity each of the seven agencies has its special tribal geographic socieconomic and religious characteristic.

Pakistan’s policy towards Afghanistan has been described and discussed in detail though two statements can give you an essence. One is made by Pakistan president Ayub Khan, “The Afghan are not Muslims nearly as much as they are opportunists!”
While another view from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is, “The problem fundamentally is not about peace with Taliban. The problem is fundamentally peace between Pakistan and Afghanistan”!

A very interesting piece of history is mentioned here. When Zial Ul Haq was reeling in non cooperation from the world because of his hanging of president Bhutto; the invasion of Afghanistan by Russia was a godsend! Now the US and Saudi countries had to support Pakistan and Pakistan slowly made sure via Madrasas and other measures to increase the islamization of Afghanistan!

It was supposed to be a real Islamic state, part of a pan-Islamic revival that will one day win over the Moslems in the Soviet Union! Zia declared that Pakistan and Afghanistan would establish a confederation in which Pakistanis and Afghans could travel freely back and forth without passports! Zia’s goal was not limited to Afghanistan. But he spoke about expanding Pakistan’s sphere of influence to control Afghanistan, then Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and then Iran and Turkey!
Accordingly, Gen. Mohammed Aziz, who was involved in the Zia plan, was elevated to a key position by General Parvez Musharraf. The Taliban are not just recruits from “madrassas” but are on the payroll of the ISI!

Blowback from training Jihadis and Taliban fighters means that once the Jihad is over they will come back to Pakistan! Along with their ideology, drugs and weapons!

This gave birth to a ‘Kalashnikov culture’ in the country. Steve Coll estimates that by 1992, Afghanistan had more personal weapons per head than India and Pakistan com-bined: the Soviet Union pumped in military equipment worth between $36 billion and $48 billion, while the US, Saudis and Chinese supplied between $6 billion and $12 billion worth of aid.17 It is estimated that the US, between 2001 and 2021, supplied weapons worth $85 billion to Afghanistan, a large portion of which were left behind when they withdrew in August 2021. Many of these weapons have found their way or will find their way into Pakistan and especially into Kara-chi, where resultantly the law-and-order situation had deteriorated sharply in the 1990s. The apprehension was that a similar situation could arise again!

The whole fiasco of Afghanistan, America and Russia can be summarised in a very simple way. Initially Afghanistan wanted help from the US. But US did not want to antagonise Pakistan so they did not help!
They actually sent a hand delivered insulting note to the Afghanistan ambassador to reject and actually advise them to better the relations with Pakistan!
Afghanistan. Afghanistan took the help of Russia! Then Afghanistan thought that they could control Russia, while Russia thought they could control Afghanistan!

A whole chapter on the rise and hold of Mujahudeen has been described in detail. This is one of the best chapters in the book on the rise of groups based on personal agendas. And finally their fall!

Hekmatyar’s failure to establish himself in Kabul led Pakistan to realize the futility of continuing its support for his faction.
The ISI turned its eyes to the new force that emerged in Kandahar: the Taliban, drawn primarily from the ranks of Ghilzai Pashtuns and who had studied in Pak madrassas.

The role of US in the development and propagation of Mujahideen is very well elaborated. The US wanted to get back at Russia for their support to Vietnam against America so US in an operation code named Cyclone gave financial and technical assistance to any anti Russian fraction in Afghanistan! Along with Saudi Arabia matching the same dollar by dollar!

The creation and formation of Taliban right from a small meet of 50 people without a name as an answer to the corruption and atrocities done by the Mujahideen after the departure of Russia. To the phenomenon which it is today has been extensively discussed and is an amazing chapter.
Starting with the first major leader Mullah Omar who was initially a Mujahideen. The chief difference between Al Qaeda and Taliban was the issue of Sufi Shrines. While Al Qaeda held worship to be unislamic innovation and an insult to their Wahabi sensibilities while Mullah Omar had great regard to his Sufi teacher and his shrine.

In summary the author states concludes that Scholars have sought to make a distinction between ‘Old Taliban’, ‘Neo-Taliban’ and ‘Pakistani Taliban. The Old Taliban were Pashtuns who came to the fore out of the anarchy of the post-Soviet Afghanistan (1988-94) and established their rule in Afghanistan in 1996. They were removed in October 2001, in the post-9/11 US Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).
Neo-Taliban were those Taliban who came to the fore during the post-9/11 US attacks on Afghanistan. Their motivation was their anger at the corrupt governance of the post-9/11 Afghanistan and the high-handedness of the US and NATO forces. The Pakistani Taliban were those who were motivated by grievances against the state!

The formation of THE TEHRIK-I-TALIBAN PAKISTAN (TTP) in December 2007 and the role of Lal Mosque has been very well explained in the next chapter.

A whole chapter has been given on drone and the drones strikes which the US has been very successful in implementing. And the role of Pakistan has been told to be duplicitous! Openly they oppose the strike, but they give ground support! A very interesting war on terrorism indeed!

15 AUGUST 2021 WILL GO down as another seminal date in the history of Pash-tunistan, when the mainly Pashtun Taliban drove into Kabul to re-establish the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan! The resurgence of taliban 2.0 has been disused here.

The big review and the much bigger book has 20-30 percent of references! Shows the amount of research which has gone into this huge work!

Give it a go!