FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNITY LEVEL JIRGAS

 There are three main functions of Jirga at the community level:  dispute resolution, community-wide issue-driven Jirga, and inter-family Jirga.  The following three sections examine each in detail.

Dispute Resolution

 In this Jirga, the parties, as major stakeholders, have a considerable amount of influence. There are three approaches that can begin the dispute resolution process within the Jirga.

I.  One of the parties approaches the Jirga members:

In this case, members who are requested to intervene, act as

a.             Fact finders,

b.             Advocates,

c.             Facilitators,

d.             Mediators, or 

e.             Jury

The Jirga member’s initial response would be to find out more about the situation and to clarify the issues. This typically involves spreading the word into the community that a disputant has requested an intervention.  More is discovered about the history of the dispute and its various dynamics through talks with women at the disputant’s home and male friends at Hujra.

The second party in the dispute, which already finds the news of the initiative of the first party, is usually ready to receive the Jirga. This way a dialogue would start to clarifying issues, finding alternatives and approaching a resolution acceptable to both the parties.

If the second party shows arrogance and does not respond well to the queries by the interveners, blame is placed on the second party for being non-cooperative. This gives the first party a moral edge over the other.

When there is compliance, the interveners facilitate the process of clarifying issues and settling the dispute. Agreement to the final decision by the parties is crucial.

Parties may be advised by the Jirga members to go for arbitration, if it is difficult for the parties to reach an agreement. Again, rules of arbitration are applied and selection of arbitrators is done with the consent of the parties.

II.  Jirga approaches the disputants:    

Conflict escalates relatively quickly when there may be a history of violence between the parties or the parties may be emotionally charged.  In this case, a Jirga is formed to prevent the situation from getting worse.  The Jirga must be announced and an agreement of procedure must be cleared by the elders and influential members of the community. After approval is gained, the interveners have the go ahead to establish an intervention and parties are advised to hold their fire. One of the parties will hold fire first, while the interveners approach the second party. A temporary ceasefire is thus established, leveling the ground for further talks. Rules of mediation or arbitration are thereafter applied to the case.

III.  Both parties decide to approach the Jirga:                   

A situation where both the parties desire the help of interveners is relatively easier to organize. Steps involved in mediation and arbitration are thus followed.

Community-wide Issue-driven Jirga

 A Jirga is formed when an issue of importance arises in the community. The issue is generally related to the collective living of the community, such as development or security, and any action taken must reflect the collective view of the community.  The issue is discussed informally at first by the elders in the Hujra, a sitting place for the community elders where evening chat takes place to review various aspects of life in the community.  As this smaller group of elders discusses the issue, they can decide that the issue requires the attention of the larger community.  The same issue is taken from one Hujra to another and views are exchanged between the elders of the community.  If need be, a collective body can be formed with the consent of all the influential men and having uniform representation from all the stakeholders.  A grand assembly is announced for public debate on the issue, which is attended by members of the community. Jirga members facilitate the talk, while playing with small stones laid before them on the ground, or mapping the argument by drawing figures on the ground with a small stick.  Such an assembly may make a decision on the issue or may postpone it for another session or an upcoming event.

 Inter-family Jirga

 Closely related to the first category, the third function of the Jirga is really a delegation of one family, clan, or group that proposes a new idea to another family, clan, or group. This is generally a dispute-free issue and more a proposal of a social or development nature. For example, a family can decide to send a delegation to another family for making a match for their children. Alternatively, a delegation can be sent for proposing sale or purchase of land to another party. Sending a message through a third party is a safe way to set a stage for advancing the talk.

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The make up of a Jirga is very important to the outcome of the case.  If the wrong kind of person is allowed to lead a Jirga, the outcome may dwindle in uncertainties.  Who, then, can be a Jirgamar, or intervener? 

Jirgamars are of two types. There are the professional people, holding the title of Malak and devoting their lives to live as self-appointed leaders of the community. The second type consists of people of independent means who have influence in the community.  These influential community members do not do third party intervention in all cases, but can articulate a situation and can argue a case well before another party.

There are different aspects of the personality of a Jirgamar or intervener in the Pukhtoon communities. The Jirgamar should be well versed with the code of Pukhtoonwali. The education of Pukhtoonwali comes through a lifelong association with peers, regular attendance in Hujra, a long career of representation as a junior member of delegations, and maintaining a neat and clean character record throughout life. In most cases, Jirgamars will not indulge in personal enmities or disputes, and if they do, they would have their things resolved gracefully and quickly.

A second aspect of the personality of a Jirgamar is his understanding of and loyalty to the code of Pukhtoonwali. Pukhtoonwali, in addition to other things, dictates it followers a strict code of honesty, dignity, strong character and pursuit of justice for all. Therefore some people with better understanding of Pukhtoonwali but lesser intervention skills may prove to be more effective Jirgamars than ones who may have spent their lives in the process, turned white bearded, but may grown little as Pukhtoons and professional Jirgamars.

A third aspect is the capability of a person to articulate a situation well, use the right rhetoric, idioms, and stories, as well as references to the past.  Idioms and phrases play a decisive role in the process of Jirga, as the use of the right idiom at the right time by one of the wise Jirga members can resolve an intractable conflict for the disputants. The use of idioms and proverbs also makes it easy for the local communities to understand complex issues in a simple manner.

Fourthly, Jirgamars are skilled at conflict analysis. Within the context of Pukhtoonwali and drawing on their strong belief in peace, the people of Jirga have aptitudes to analyze a particular situation technically, draw deductions, forecast the future, and take strategic actions to prevent bloodshed and enmities in their communities. These aptitudes are not formally taught to them but they come with the experience of peacebuilding and learning from their peers in the profession. For a Jirga member, the understanding of the outcome of a specific conflict comes as a sixth sense, a peculiar intuition that serves as a stimulus to act in the right direction. 

Conflict analysis is done as a practical process of analyzing and understanding the reality of the conflict from a variety of perspectives, which forms the basis of selecting the most effective strategies for a particular conflict. This is done with a number of simple, practical, and generic tools and techniques giving the Jirga a better understanding of the situation and helping them choose appropriate tools for intervention.

One ingrained technique that Jirga members use is to pay special attention to the narratives that parties use during the conflict. The narratives explain their position and assumptions regarding the issues and help the Jirga understand the context of the conflict.

Members of Jirga are very skilled at conflict analysis. Knowledge of the history of a conflict works as a first step towards understanding the conflict and its nature. As locals, Jirga members have a surprising memory of the important local events and incidents. Elderly people add to the knowledge base of youngsters about the history of families and their disputes.  An overview of the timelines, equated with the “kill score” of each party, determines the psychological status of the parties. The psychological status is further studied in light of the material losses and potential gains for each party, if the conflict persists. Within the context of Pukhtoonwali, worldviews of parties are assessed and a cost benefit analysis for each party is done to build an argument for peace. Factors such as trauma healing, and sensitivities like identity, dignity, and ego issues are well considered before launching a strategic intervention.

Finally, the peacebuilding characteristics of Jirga are frequently associated with religion. Jirgamars draw on the teachings of Islam on peace and peacebuilding as well as their own cultural background that legitimizes their professional and social roles. 

In summary, Jirgamars are driven by their passion for social leadership. In the absence of a system that relies on a formal election process, these people have no choice but to offer their services voluntarily to the community. The community can scrutinize all such contestants for their character, capacity and past conduct. Having passed the test, these Jirgamars need to retain the confidence of the society to remain in the loop.  Jirgamars move up the Jirga hierarchy by maintaining a selfless and people-friendly attitude throughout their lives. These people grow up to command respect from the community and be called Masharan, or social leaders.

Ready for an all out war and relying on a strong rhetoric of peace, Jirgamars are pacifists of their own kind. Relying heavily on the language of peace and peacebuilding, they frequently use references of religion to convince parties to give up arms. In addition to active pleading for peace and gaining the confidence of the parties, withdrawal, avoidance, patience and tolerance are their major tools to achieve peace. A pro-active intervention is a passion for which Jirga people risk even their own lives and spend their own money and time in order to live a life of professional satisfaction.

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The Context

Jirga can be formed at an interpersonal level, at the village or community level, and even at national levels. One primary aspect of the Jirga, however, is the framework or the context in which Jirga is formed. This context is the code of Pukhtoonwali. One cannot understand the dynamics of Jirga without understanding the forces that keep the institution alive.  Pukhtoonwali forms the field in which Jirga can be applied.

The Jirga works best within the context of Pukhtoonwali as Pukhtoonwali provides the set of rules, regulations, laws, ethos, and moral standards, justifying the theoretical framework of Pukhtoonwali—a context for an indigenous, independent, traditional, collective, and communal group of people. It is the common culture, in which the meanings of issues related to social justice are located and identified.

 The Parties

A dispute resolution Jirga must function with the parties who conform to the same code of Pukhtoonwali. When the parties belong to different contexts, the Jirga must become a body to undertake negotiations or mediation, but not arbitration.

 Geographical Contiguity

Jirga changes its role and approaches towards the parties depending on the geographical location of the parties. Three scenarios can be identified for the changing roles of Jirga. Firstly, when the parties reside in close proximity and belong to the same tribe or community. In this case the Jirga cannot ignore a situation calling for third party intervention or public peace will be in danger. The Jirga in such a case undertakes intervention and usually end as playing the role of arbitrators. Secondly, when the parties are distant apart, the Jirga of one village will require approaching the elders of the other village where the second party resides. This way, group of the two elders will decide what course can be taken to resolve the issue between such disputants. Elders of the two villages in such a case will first deliberate on the issue themselves and then in consultation with the parties may agree to form a collective Jirga, or ask one of the Jirgas to look after the issue. Thirdly, when the parties reside in different areas and do not share the same code of Pukhtoonwali, the Jirga of a complainant will approach the other party as a delegate or council of the complainant party. This is more of a diplomatic role in which they represent the interests of the party on whose initiative this Jirga was sent.  

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 Few broad principles explained below are key to a successful Jirga.

Transparency

The word “Jirga” is said to be comprised of “Jar,” meaning to say things openly, while “ga” is a suffix, which is said to mean, “place.” Mostly held in the open air, the element of transparency is a hallmark of the process of Jirga. The matter is discussed and argued in public in the presence of the community. When people are clear about the proceedings of the Jirga, they duly support the efforts and the Jirga moves along with the opinion of the community as a whole. Hence, the Jirga needs to maintain a completely transparent relationship with the community, educating people about the facts, exploring options on a subject, deducing logical conclusions, and offering an undisputed opinion for the community.  This transparent method creates the support base for the decisions of the Jirga.

Confidence of the Community

Having the confidence of the people is a principle that establishes the connection between transparency and accountability. When the Jirga members do not carry the confidence of the people, their opinions carry little value, and decisions made by them cannot be implemented. When there are popular perceptions of mischief or partisanship in a Jirga, the community can get together to raise a more popular based Jirga to confront the injustice supported by the malicious Jirga.

Unanimity

 Another striking aspect of the process of Jirga is that after a thorough debate and discussion on a specific issue, the decision regarding the process or the outcome is made unanimously. Only in exceptional cases it is observed that the Jirga, like a jury, can give a split decision regarding the outcome. There must be unanimity in the process, however.

Since implementation of a decision is the most important element of the process of dispute resolution, Jirga decisions have to be practicable or agreeable to both the parties. The Jirga would raise Arbaki, its security force, only in exceptional cases.  Therefore all decisions of the Jirga must have built-in mechanisms to ensure implementation. While social pressure plays a role in obliging the parties to conform to the decisions of the Jirga, the decision must look reasonable to the parties as well. The parties may be required to adjust their interests slightly left or right, but they must mutually agree to the decision of the Jirga.  In this sense, all decisions of the Jirga should represent a possible agreement by the parties. In some cases, this agreement is sought from the parties while exploring ideas and brainstorming separately with the parties.

One way of seeking this mutual agreement as practiced by the Jirgas is to obtain the consent of the parties, called a Waak, before the start of the proceedings. This unconditional consent, written or verbally given, turns the process of the Jirga from mediative intervention to a judicial arbitration. In the legal sense, arbitration involves a procedure for implementation of the decision of arbitrators, which in the case of settled areas means an arbitration award turning into a court decree to be implemented by police. In the tribal setup, although Jirga members can call for raising a volunteer force to enforce a decision, but it is not mandatory in all cases. This discretion gives enormous powers to Jirga over the parties who are real stakeholders in the process. Giving a Waak or surrendering one’s rights therefore, on the one hand, may result in a just decision by the Jirga, which will require forced implementation. In the absence of a standard rule for implementation procedure, some quality decisions may remain unimplemented. On the other hand, there may come to light some low quality decisions which might be unduly implemented through force, thus damaging the credibility of the Jirga.

In many cases, parties are asked to deposit sureties or bonds like weapons or cash money as prior agreement to the eventual decision of the Jirga.  This is a useful practice for longstanding and intractable disputes, in which the Jirga wants the parties to move forward and forget about the age-old bitterness. High cost sureties in such cases help the Jirgas make tough decisions that will allow the parties to overcome their chosen traumas of the past.

 Freedom of Speech

 Each Jirga member and all the people witnessing the Jirga proceedings have absolute freedom to speak. There are two aspects to this freedom. One is that anyone can raise an issue regarding the process or composition of a Jirga and announce a disagreement. The second aspect is that there is the space for anyone to comment on the content. As per the tradition, people are allowed to carry personal arms like guns and rifles to the venue of the Jirga. Only rarely does a Jirga setting become a physical battleground between the parties represented. The security of the place is assured by the decorum and discipline of the proceedings, the presence of the elders, and the leadership’s control of the gathering.

Accountability Process of Jirga Members 

Working as an informal team of co-professionals, Jirga members recognize and appreciate efforts of everyone working towards peace and peacebuilding. However, the elders are always alert to the presence of miscreant in their professional community. The society exercises a system of internal control over the people who aspire for leadership in an informal way. As soon as someone is suspected of misusing the process of Jirga or abusing his powers as a Jirga member, the elders must decide to expose such person and publicly dissociate themselves from him, a punishment with which few can afford to live.

Accusations about the use of bribes and bias or partiality by one or more Jirga members can be heard frequently in the tribal areas where the Government of Pakistan acts as a stakeholder in the process. The community, however, as an informal local institution, has little tolerance for this kind of an attitude. Members of the Jirga accused of partiality or accepting bribes are immediately exposed before the community, putting a permanent dent on their character and their ability to lead the community any further.

Message of Peace 

In the middle of a violent conflict, the best tool to counter the vengeful side of Pukhtoonwali is to preach the philosophy of peace. A Jirga can emphasize religion, the danger of loss of life or property, and the importance of children and their education to convince warring parties to refrain from violence.  Jirga’s overwhelming reliance and belief on the ideology of pacifism gives them a remarkable edge during a potentially violent situation. 

In striking contrast to the message of peace, Jirga, like the Pukhtoon society in general, justifies an all out war as a last resort. Life to Pukhtoons is a trust of God to be spent with dignity and honor, as defined by the society over time. However, a message of peace always remains an attractive tool with the Jirga to initiate a strong dialogue during a conflict situation.

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