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In the face of
the modern age of globalization, how should we treat old and indigenous
social institutions? What happens when new and more scientific social
sector institutions try to override the old and traditional patterns of a
society and force them to change? Is there a way in which the new, more
dominant, and of course more codified systems benefit from and collaborate
with the traditional systems to bring forward the synergies of two
different sets of understandings?
For the students
of political science and international relations, the nation state system,
through the instruments of democratic governance, should ensure continued
progress and growth of societies. A sociologist, however finds enormous
richness in the traditional and indigenous social mechanisms, which are
duly credited for carrying the societies through the difficult periods of
their history, giving them energy and helping them go on. This very
practical aspect of traditional practices, combined with the love and
appreciation indigenous people have for the past, gives indigenous people
the confidence needed to continue to utilize their traditional
institutions.
The meeting
point between the new and the old systems therefore is of critical
importance to those who wish to see things right. The negotiation between
the two must meet the standards of justice if the change desired is to be
positive and sustainable. The western democratic system brings with it
many new ideas of equity and social justice. Its task then becomes
selling these new ideas to the older generations and remote societies in
such a way that they find advantage in leaving behind their rich and
inherited cultures. In the process, many of the old practices that are
rooted in local wisdom are discarded as people seek out the better life
promised in the modern systems. What is often neglected is how the
ancient traditions and practices can inform the modern systems.
The Pukhtoon
Jirga is one such institution, which according to modern standards of
governance, apparently seems to have outlived its utility. Yet an
overwhelming majority of people living under this system, sing its
praises. The latest example of the Loya Jirga at Bonn in the spring of
2002, used to form an Afghan national government after three decades of
civil war, is a good example of use and viability of traditional
institutions. In this Afghan scenario, when nothing else worked, the
people of Afghanistan put their trust in a Jirga to help them recover from
a state of anarchy and decide for their future. Suddenly, the Loya Jirga-its
history, procedure, and jurisdiction-became visible to the greater world
community.
Historically a
people of unique characteristics, Pukhtoon societies have held the concept
of Jirga quite sacred to them and have allowed this institution to rule
them throughout their known histories. Loya Jirga is just one component of
what we know about Jirga. Jirga has operated in the Pukhtoon culture in
many horizontal and vertical ways. It is a dispute resolution body at all
levels. It has legislative characteristics, plays a diplomatic role, and
enjoys many more roles that have rarely been articulated.
We have tried to
identify some of the processes of Jirga through describing what Jirga is
as well as when, where, why, how, and for whom Jirga works. Our desires
are to document various micro processes involved in Jirga, introduce it
and its dynamics to those outside of the culture who are dealing with
Pukhtoon groups, and to help the Pukhtoons develop Jirga to meet the
challenges of present times.
To our
understanding, the outside world, with their peculiar worldviews, needs
information on Jirga and Pukhtoonwali but find it difficult to agree with
what little Pukhtoon worldview offers. The barrier in communication
created by the worldview differences is little appreciated particularly by
the modern day NGOs and donor community. Rather than discarding an
indigenous tradition, the outside world needs to better understand what
Pukhtoons have to say, give them confidence to say more, sensitize them to
important issues and support them towards education and development. An
outright opposition of a deep-rooted culture like Pukhto can contribute
little towards developments.
The apparently
closed nature of Jirga and its absolute reliance on the Pukhtoon cultural
paradigm, the code of Pukhtoonwali, obliges us to explore the Pukhtoon
worldview as we talk more about Jirga. While recognizing the danger of
overgeneralization, we note that Pukhtoons are typically traditionalists,
conservative and devoted to their culture (Pukhtoonwali). Their loyalty to
Pukhtoonwali earns them a sense of pride, sometimes leading to
ethnocentric attitudes, which outsiders find difficult to understand and
accept.
We have tried to
present Jirga in its many forms, as is apparent from the table of
contents. We would like, however, to provide some initial clarity about
our view of Jirga and what it is not. Jirga, in its current form, is not a
government or a ruling body. It is not a purely legislative body, nor it
is a judicial entity. We see Jirga as a set of processes with similar
purposes as many well-known social practices, such as peacebuilding and
development. Jirga is operative only in the Pukhtoon areas and its
substantive part is governed by the code of Pukhtoonwali.
Because of its
roots in Pukhtoonwali, one has to visit the history of Pukhtoons and
explore some prominent features of Pukhtoonwali at the outset.
Pukhtoonwali is the code under which Jirga finds its jurisdiction and
authority. Outside the code, we find that Jirga is a set of processes
meant to build communications between parties and people. Beyond this
simple capacity of allowing people and parties to talk, Jirga is tied
intrinsically to Pukhtoonwali.
A study of
Pukhtoonwali will help distinguish between Pukhtoonwali and Jirga. It
will also help in finding the links between the two. Through that process
we can address the limitations as well as the possibilities of this old
system. Along with this, we hope to create space for the Pukhtoons to
address some outstanding issues between the Pukhtoon culture and the
outside world.
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The
complexities involved in describing Jirga can best be understood in the
following fable. A few blind persons wanted to see an elephant, but since
they were blind, they needed to touch in order to see. Each person got
hold of a different part of the elephant and tried to understand how the
whole elephant looked. The person who held the leg of the elephant said
that an elephant looks like the trunk of a tree. The one who touched the
tusk said that the elephant is like a spear. The one who touched the body
said that the elephant is like a wall, the one on the tail said that an
elephant is like a rope. The descriptions of Jirga are like these found in
this story. Our job as researchers has been to sift through the disparate
understandings and stories of Jirga and attempt to describe its whole.
This work is an
outcome of over two hundred qualitative interviews conducted with a wide
range of individuals and groups of Jirga people in formal and informal
sessions. Our research spread over about 18 months, during which we
traveled extensively in the tribal and settled areas of NWFP and
Balochistan in Pakistan, and parts of Afghanistan. Initially we were
scheduled to hold only 60 structured interviews with professional Jirga
people, but as we advanced our understanding of the different dynamics of
Jirga, we got more and more involved in talking to people. Other than the
professional Jirga people, we found amazing information in talking to the
common people who live under the influence of the Jirga system. We also
spoke to a number of people from NGOs and women working on advocacy. The
Afghan refugee camps provided us with many resource people from a wide
range of areas in Afghanistan.
The methodology
of research through qualitative interviews suited our work because,
although there are comments and remarks on the Jirga traditions in a
number of books written by local as well as foreign writers, to our
knowledge, the subject of Jirga has never been a focus of such an
extensive study before. We wanted to keep the scope of our work as wide as
possible so that future studies on various aspects may commence by
interested individuals and groups.
As the title
suggests, this work represents an overview of the institution of Jirga,
raising some very basic issues and questions. The idea is to simply
present the Jirga as it is understood.
There are five
basic objectives of the work:
1.
To document dynamics of Jirga,
2. To
introduce Jirga to the outside world,
3. To
look at Jirga as a peacebuilding body,
4. To
present Jirga as a grass-roots organization, and
5. To
initiate a dialogue regarding the future of Jirga.
The work
therefore addresses a wide range of clients including Foreign Governments,
Academic Institutions, Non-Governmental Development Organizations and the
local population.
The write up
provides some patterns of Jirga as defined by our interviewees and seen on
the ground. Jirga represents different ideas to different people and,
therefore, we have tried to identify each shade of Jirga and each profile
of it in very broad terms. This will be helpful for us as we attempt to
differentiate between the substantially different forms of Jirga, all of
which carry the name of Jirga. On the political side, Jirga is found to
be operating at three levels: the national level-more popularly known as
Loya Jirga, the regional level, and the local (government) level.
Horizontally,
Jirga plays many different roles including those of executive,
legislature, and judiciary, all without much distinction in name.
At interpersonal
and community levels, Jirga operates as a lubricant for the fragile tribal
social setup, binding the Pukhtoons in one social fabric known as
Pukhtoonwali. It is very much wrapped up in the meaning Pukhtoons give to
their life and it enables them to go on. Jirga's specialization of dispute
resolution has been especially highlighted because of the enormous
richness and indigenous nature of the processes adopted for peacebuilding.
The work is
comprised of the perceptions and understandings of the people regarding
their history and the value they attach to it. It also discusses the
possible reasons for the special value of this sparsely recorded history.
The context of Pukhtoon worldview is further defined through exploring the
code of Pukhtoonwali-the basic framework of the Pukhtoon social system.
On our way, an
attempt has been made to explore the future prospects for Jirga. We
examine the possibilities of using Jirga in the forthcoming local
government system, which is under design for the tribal areas of
Pakistan. We consider the institutionalization of Jirga at the national
level in Afghanistan and also how the development sector can partner with
the tribal and rural Jirga.
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