Abstract
The attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar on 16 December 2014 ushered Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan into a new phase. The Chief of Army Staff Raheel Sharif visited Afghanistan and discussed means of countering militancy that had finally directed targeted children in the country. The talks took place against the backdrop of understanding that the distinction between good and bad Taliban, so far adhered to by Islamabad, was no longer relevant. The related assumption was the identification of Taliban with Pashtun identity and the need to counter the growing militancy among them through collaboration between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Pashtuns: The Unresolved Key to the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan by Abubakar Siddique deals directly with the phenomenon that underpins the developments leading to these assumptions and identification of the border regions between Pakistan and Afghanistan as the locale of jihadi ideas. With a focus on the history, culture and the web of relationships between tribes across the Durand Line, their interaction with governments of their respective countries and those on the other side and their role in global developments through the jihad against the Soviet invasion and the War on Terror forms the focus of this book.
Siddique provides an intriguing picture of the interaction of local and global interests and their impact on the Pashtuns, an ethnic community that he identifies as ‘one of the world’s largest displaced population’ (p. 16). Straddling the border regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, he argues, the Pashtuns have a rich history marked by diverse religious and intellectual notions of their identity. After the introductory chapter on Pashtuns, the second chapter provides an interesting account of this diversity by contrasting Pir Roshan’s ideas with those of Akhund Derweza where the former’s Sufic ideas were pitted against the rigid orthodoxy promoted by the latter. The chapter discusses the contributions made by Khushal Khan Khattak, the poet-warrior, whose ideas continue to resonate with Pashtuns. Equally importantly, the chapter provides sufficient detail of how the Durrani Empire of Pashtuns replaced the grandeur of Mughal Empire in the eighteenth century and emerged as the second largest Muslim empire after the Ottomans (pp. 30–31). In doing so, he implicitly questions the established narrative of the Mughals and the Ottomans as the two dominant empires in South Asia and the Middle East. The chapter also provides a brief account of the Anglo-Afghan wars, the demarcation of the Durand Line in 1893, the creation of the buffer zone between the British and Russian empires and the declaration of Afghan independence in 1919 by Amanullah Khan. The discussion of Afghanistan’s objection to Pakistan’s membership of the United Nations, which was soon followed by the establishment of diplomatic relations, and the role of the military in Pakistan during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan bring the chapter to a close. The author suggests that Pakistan’s support for Islamists in Afghanistan was part of a strategy to counter the nationalist strands that had questioned Pakistan’s control over Pashtun areas.
Chapter 3 focuses on the Taliban in power and the route they took to establish a state. The information gathered on site through discussions is effectively employed to present the picture of a group that rose to power through a multitude of factors (and not just through the machinations of the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan), and attempted to craft a new identity in the international system. The chapter provides original information on the Dastur (Constitution) drafted by Taliban in 1998 that was never formally published; the account suggests that Taliban had planned to assign superior powers to Amirul Momineen (Mullah Omar) while being willing to accept the membership (and implicitly the norms) of the United Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (p. 55). This chapter also shifts from the traditional view of Taliban submitting to the will of the Pakistan army or government to present a picture of shifting power balances and the ability of Taliban to query Pakistan diktats. For example, the Taliban ignored Pakistani demands for decision on the Durand Line on grounds that they were not ‘a national government’ but an ‘emergency transition’ (p. 60). The chapter also provides insight into a mixed Taliban view of Osama bin Laden’s presence in Afghanistan: while Pashtunwali underpinned their declared arguments against handing Osama bin Laden over to the United States, the Taliban were not averse to negotiating such possibilities vis-à-vis the Saudi government. Some Taliban leaders were also critical of Osama never delivering on building infrastructure in Afghanistan as a quid pro quo for the hospitality extended to him in the name of religious affinity (p. 66).
The second part of the book (consisting of four chapters) deals with Pashtuns in Pakistan straddling the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan. The author questions the conventional wisdom that tribal animosities or dynamics shape the trajectories of different actors’ policies in FATA. Instead, Siddique argues through discussion of Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Haqqani network and al-Qaeda presence in the region that the centres of power in FATA have emerged through the linkages established between the Pakistan military and local tribes. The Haqqani network, the author points out, has been able to establish a strong presence in North Waziristan courtesy of the military that probably even leases the jihadist market run by the Haqqani network in Waziristan (p. 83) though the meaning of jihadist market is not made clear. He also provides samples of al-Qaeda publications available through supportive outlets in Pakistan that delve in Waziristan’s place in global jihad (p. 85). The language used in such passages provides an insight into how the self-identification of al-Qaeda as muhajereen and the locals as Ansar draws upon the Prophet’s migration from Mecca to Medina (622 AD) and by employing the traditional Islamic terminology establishes the value of religious affinity across ethnic and tribal divisions.
Chapter 5, ‘vanishing tribes’, provides some interesting information on the tribes, FATA and how military and civilian governments have not followed a concerted policy of reform. The military has thwarted the efforts of democratically elected governments to extend services to the region and demanded a free hand in the area. Other interested groups have also used their presence in the region to cause malaks to call press conferences against planned reforms. The sectarianism in the region also forms part of the discussion that focuses on the dangers inherent in takfirisalafism, perennial weakness and backwardness of FATA and the linkages between FATA and other parts of Pakistan, including the Red Mosque in Islamabad.
Chapters 6 and 7 focus on the rise of extremism in KPK, especially Swat, and Balochistan. Relying on interviews with Afrasiab Khattak and other printed and gathered information, he provides a sobering analysis of how Swat, once described as the Switzerland of Asia, descended into militancy led by Fazlullah. It is the most lucid treatment of local and national groups that contributed to the barbaric acts committed in the name of introducing sharia in Swat. The impact of Taliban’s presence in Balochistan, including the Quetta Shura, provides original insights into how the movement of Pashtuns across the borders has shaped political linkages. Having been trained in the conservative Pashtun Islamist political party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) madaris in northern Balochistan, Siddique argues the Taliban is now emerging as separate centre of power sometimes eclipsing or threatening JUI’s leadership. There are divisions within JUI on the logic of supporting and launching Taliban from Chaman with some, including Sherani, opposing Taliban. Local customs and settlement patterns, he argues, are also shifting with the influx of Afghan Taliban—a phenomenon the author suggests may form part of a calculated strategy of countering Baloch nationalism with Pashtun orthodoxy.
Part 3 of the book focuses on the linkages between tribes on the Afghan side of the border and how the centuries, but definitely the last century, has shaped their customs, politics and conditions. The focus on the old and new Islamists in Loy Nangarhar, Loya Paktia and Loy Kandahar provides an interesting and rich insight into how the movement of people across the borders, the presence of Haqqani network in Loya Paktia and parts of FATA a the cause of instability, and the presence of a community of tribes determined to shape their own region has created diverse trends in the Afghan Pashtun belt. The developments in these areas, he is careful to point out, are not all negative. Despite the militancy and problems, the author points out, ‘by 2012 Loya Paktia boasted a range of government officials, as well as three functioning universities and hundreds of rebuilt schools’ (pp. 178–179).
Part 4 of the book focuses on ways out of the difficulties caused by efforts ‘aimed at keeping them [the Pashtun] weak and tormented’. In Siddique’s view, the Durand Line issue would have to be settled at some stage through a Loya Jirga given its criticism as an international boundary among Afghan elite and intellectuals. The collaboration and cooperation between the two neighbouring states, he argues, is the route to a peaceful homeland for Pashtuns.
The richness of information provided in sections of the book and the picture they paint of a complex web of relationship is the main strength of the book. The treatment of developments in different sub-regions (FATA, Swat, Balochistan and Loya Paktia, for example) sometimes does not follow logical sequence with demographic information presented towards the end when its early presentation would have made the discussion more potent. The book is not written with accounts of chronological developments since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It could be argued that given the complex nature of the issues being explored in the book that specifically focuses on an ethnic community, the Pashtuns, any book of its kind would encounter difficulties in adopting a chronological order in discussing the issues and their impact across the Pakistan–Afghan border. Therefore, the fact that the author has managed to deal with the issue despite these difficulties makes the book a useful resource for those who are familiar with the region and its developments. For the uninitiated, however, the book should be read in conjunction with other writings, for example, Amin Saikal’s (2006) Modern Afghanistan and Ahmed Rashid’s (2008) Descent into Chaos.