Noorullah Khan
Appeared on Monday, May 21, 2001 in The News International
Observing the salient features of Afghan society, the traditional
Afghan Loya Jirga comes in the first row. This traditional political
institution has been alive since the ancient Aryan period; afterwards
it was further enriched and modified during Greco-Bactrian period. It
provides Afghan society a historical, social and political structure,
which has always helped Afghans deal with the situation of anarchy,
chaos and emergency. Many orientalists are of the opinion that Afghan
society is an egalitarian and democratic society. Some of them are of
the view that it is a kind of ordered anarchy. Of course, Afghan
society is one of the interesting cases for all curious and
investigative cultural anthropologists of the world. Many of them have
studied it both journalistically and through field studies and
participant observation. However, they have still not converged on a
unified definition and conclusion. Every one of them has defined it in
his or her own way. Yet the phrase, ordered anarchy, sounds very
interesting and somewhat closer to the reality. Because Afghan
society's both facets, order and anarchy, are quite apparent. On the
one hand, they have established glorious empires, while on the other
hand, they make still the largest tribal, nomadic, semi-nomadic
society of the world. Historically, they are famous for anarchic and
unruly nature. Many times they have fought fierce wars against
outsiders and of course among themselves. The latest episode of this
series is going on since last two and half decades. But they are not
only warlike people, rather have developed some very mature social and
political institutions and norms both for war and peace days. Their
enmity and rivalry is also based on well established principles and
culturally recognised norms and values. In other words, they know how
to fight and how to make peace. The institute of the Loya Jirga
embodies this reality of Afghan society in its fabric.
If we analyse Afghan history, most of the great events, particularly
the making of governments and the announcements of wars of
independence, have been determined and happened because of Loya Jirga.
Even their empires in the Subcontinent were established, maintained
and replaced through the Jirgas, either the Loya Jirga or smaller ones
compounded of the tribe of the king and other allied tribes. In
Afghanistan, it is the tribe which decides, not the individual.
Modern Afghanistan is a phenomenon purely determined by the Loya
Jirgas convened by different Afghan leaders. Up to the end of
seventeenth century Afghanistan was divided between Mughals and
Iranians. It was in the start of eighteenth century, when Mirwais
Ghilji convened a Loya jirga in the villages of Kokeran and Manja of
Kandahar. This Jirga chalked out the plan of rebellion against the
rule of Asfahan. In those days, the northern part of today's
Balochistan of Pakistan was also part of Kandahar. So it was in this
area where the rebellion first broke our. The plan of rebellion was
successful and Mirwais announced independent Afghanistan. But It was a
republican government of Afghan version; Mirwais did not announce
himself King of the country. It was this Jirga which provided the
foundation of modern Afghanistan. For the first time, it was the
government of Afghans inside Afghanistan. Before that, Afghans used to
either establish big empires outside Afghanistan or, instead of it,
were themselves ruled by outsiders and their land was to be just an
annexe to India or Iran. Generally, it is said that Ahmad Shah Abdali
was the founder of modern Afghanistan. But this approach is
misleading. In fact, Ahmad Shah only completed that process which was
started by Mirwais.
The second historic Afghan Loya Jirga was held in 1747 after the
assassination of Nadersh Afshar. This Jirga continued for nine
consecutive days to reach a conclusion about the future king of
Afghanistan. At last the name of Ahmad Khan was announced according to
the Afghan tribal and egalitarian criteria of first among the equals.
The third important Jirga was held in 1826 when Barakzais replaced
Sadozais, the tribe of Ahmad Shah. Dost Mohammad was selected the Amir
of Afghanistan, and the country was divided into seven administrative
areas. In all the seven administrative areas, a real brother of the
Amir was made the governor. Another important Jirga was convened in
1843 when British imposed a puppet king, Shah Shuja, on the throne of
Kabul. Participants of the Jirga announced Wazir Akber Khan the leader
of Afghan resistance and the first Anglo-Afghan war was fought which
resulted in demolishing the Indus Army, the huge British force both in
terms of personnel and weapons. During the twentieth century, the Loya
Jirga was rendered more sophisticated and formalised. It was convened
by Amir Habibullah endorsed the status of permanent neutrality of
Afghanistan. In 1919 King Amanullah Khan convened a Loya Jirga for the
nullification of all those accords which the previous Amirs of
Afghanistan had signed with British India. This Jirga endorsed King
Amanullah's call for jehad, which resulted in the third Anglo-Afghan
war. For the first time, there was a state to state war between
Afghans and the British. Once again, Afghans defeated their rivals.
Amanullah Khan was a man of Jirgas, he gave it a more
institutionalised basis. He convened Jirga after Jirga to elicit the
opinion of the nation regarding the political, constitutional and
international matters of that time.
With Zahir Shah ascending to the throne of Kabul, the formalisation of
the Loya Jirga entered into a new phase. During his era, the first
Jirga was held in 1945 when the Second World War was going on. This
Jirga recommended a non-aligned status of Afghanistan and decided that
those German nationals who were in Afghanistan would not be handed
over to any rival warring party. A decade later, Zahir Shah convened
another Jirga. During this period Pak-Afghan relations were on the low
ebb. Prime Minister Sardar Daud convinced the participants to support
the cause of Pashtoonistan. The Jirga recommended that every possible
effort should be made to equip the country with state-of-the-art
equipment and weapons. In fact, this Jirga provided the results which
were opposite to all that which was achieved through all previous
Jirgas. It was after this Jirga, that Afghanistan gradually tilted
toward USSR and finally Soviet interference reached such a degree that
it ultimately resulted in the actual invasion of the country in 1979.
Bubrak Karmal and Dr Najeebullah also convened Loya Jirgas, but as
they were not in accordance with Afghan norms and values, failed to
muster the support of masses.
As explained in above, once again the Loya Jirga can play the historic
role of peace making and legitimise the political structure in the war
ravaged country. In the present situation of Afghan polity, the
position of Zahir Shah is important on several counts. He is the sole
Afghan figure who has some kind of legitimacy. He has ruled
Afghanistan almost for four decades. Barring a few groups, majority of
the genuine representatives of the people of Afghanistan recognise and
consider him the last ray of hope in the current bleak and desperate
period in the history of Afghanistan. The Afghan constitution, which
has even now been maintained and upheld by Taliban, has a provision
regarding an Emergency Loya Jirga. So also constitutionally, Zahir
Shah's position is based on validity and legitimacy. The
reconstruction of the legitimate Afghan state is possible only if
Zahir Shah is given a chance to do so. Parties concerned about the
Afghan situation, such as the US and the EU, are also aware of this
fact and have announced their full support on various occasions.
Besides, almost all neighboring states are convinced that the Loya
Jirga and Zahir Shah are the only solution to the Afghan imbroglio.
Pakistan is said to be the only but important side which does not
favour the convention of the Loya Jirga, and is reported to be trying
to perpetuate the present "friendly" regime.
The Taliban are not a viable force. It will be difficult for them to
wipe out Masud completely from Afghanistan. However, if they achieve
this target even then they will not be victorious. Paradoxically,
their success is in fact their defeat. The very day they defeat Masud,
their decline will automatically be started which will reach
eventually their complete logical end. Because through out in Afghan
history, a mullah has never ruled the country. Afghans are
conservative, traditionalist and nationalist, but they are by no means
fundamentalists. In the current situation, the overwhelming silent
majority of Afghans, specially the Pashtoon, are following the policy
of wait and see. They neither like Taliban, Masud or any other
fundamentalist and extremist group of the right or the left. But they
don't fight any one of them, because, they understand if they fight
one of them, it will certainly benefit the other, while it is
difficult for them to fight against both of them simultaneously. They
will, however, have to struggle against the victorious party, most
likely the Taliban. In this struggle, they will certainly be enjoying
the support of most of the neighboring countries and the west. Given
their inherent and structural weaknesses, it will be difficult for the
Taliban to survive any organised attempt from the south of the
country. They will easily succumb to the internal and external
pressures. In that situation, Pakistan will the only country which
will be on the losing end.
The author teaches at the Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad