Page 2 of
2 Giving peace a chance in
Afghanistan By Syed Saleem
Shahzad
exiled former prime
minister Benazir Bhutto - the leader of Pakistan's
largest political party - about a power-sharing
arrangement under which Musharraf would retain the
presidency but relinquish his post as chief of
army staff.
Such a development, it is
reasoned, would take the sting out of opposition
to actions in the name of the "war on terror" and
only a minor segment of religious zealots would
object, and they could
easily be contained.
At the same time, Washington pushed for
the alliance between the two Pakistani Pashtun
sub-nationalist parties.
Talking in the
wind? The jirga, proposed political
changes in Islamabad and the promotion of the
Pashtun sub-nationalists are one thing. Their
relevance is another.
Indeed, the downside
of the whole exercise is Washington's
understanding of the Taliban, who are perceived as
Islamists whose natural rivals are secular Pashtun
nationalists.
This might have been true
some years ago, but in the past few years the
mostly ethnic-Pashtun Taliban have positioned
themselves as champions of Pashtun nationalism on
both sides of border in their efforts to broaden
their grassroots support. With some success, they
have touted themselves as the real flag-bearers of
Pashtun ethnical and honor codes
(Pashtunwali).
The Taliban have
played up their similarities with secular Pashtuns
to soften their image as what has been described
as their "strictest interpretation of sharia law
ever".
Most Pashtuns - whether Taliban or
not - already share a similar dress code of the
shilwar qameez (loose pajama-like trousers
with shirt or tunic), turban, shoes and unkept
beard. These are considered symbols of honor in
Pashtun societies, and the Taliban have reinforced
that significance.
The Taliban strictly
follow Pushtuwali, which includes
nang (honor) - also known as ghairat
- melmastia (hospitality), panah
(asylum) and badal (revenge).
The
Taliban have always marketed the idea that by
hosting Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda training
camps during their rule in Afghanistan from 1996
to 2001, they were reinforcing all these
traditions, and even sacrificed their rule for
them.
Even the pro-Pakistan Taliban
government would not declare the Durand Line as
the international border and in recent years the
flags of "Pashtunistan" have begun to appear in
the major Afghan cities of Jalalabad, Kabul and
Kandahar, another signal that the movement for the
consolidation of the greater Pashtun lands is
reviving. [1]
The Taliban also trumpet
their defiance against foreign forces as
indicative of the Pashtuns' history of fighting
courageously and never surrendering to invaders.
From a Western perspective, the Taliban
oppress women, but they say this is very much in
line with Pashtun traditions by quoting the famous
Pashtu saying, "Khazi la koor day ya Goor"
- for a woman, there are two suitable places,
either home or the grave.
Snuff
(naswar) is considered the national
cultural addiction of Pashtuns, and while the
Taliban banned all other substances, such as
smoking tobacco, they did not ban naswar.
Taliban fighters even have a slogan: "Naswar
band jang band" - ban the naswar and
there will be no fighting.
Taliban leader
Mullah Omar also revived traditional Pashtun
games, such as buzkashi - a form of horse
polo using a goat's head as a ball. He also
promoted traditional Pashtun legends and heroes.
These important commonalties between the
Taliban and secular Pashtuns make it difficult for
the Taliban to be isolated - be it in Afghanistan
or Pakistan. By promoting Pashtun sub-nationalism,
the US is unlikely to stave off reaction to any
strikes against Taliban bases in Pakistan. The
opposite could happen, and the hand of the Taliban
could be further strengthened.
As for the
jirga that begins on Thursday, it's
definitely a positive step toward bringing peace
to the region, but tribal roots run very deep, and
the Taliban are tapped into them.
Note 1. A reflection of
the Taliban being true nationalists can be seen in
modern Pashtun folk poetry that is being read
throughout the Pashtun lands. Young Afghan poet
Sajid Afghan, whose collection of Pashtu poems is
popular in the Pashtun heartlands, reads:
Da Melmastia aw da Panah Tareekh ye Bia
taza kro Ka pa Nama Mula Yadeegi kho Omar
Pukhtoon day. (He, [Taliban leader] Mullah
Omar, revived the Pashtu customs of hospitality
and asylum, Though being popular as a mullah,
in a real sense he is a typical Pashtun).
Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia
Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be
reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com.
(Mohammed Tahir from Karachi and Tahir Ali
Khan from Islamabad contributed in this report's
historical background.)
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Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
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