"TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING PUKHTOON JIRGA"

Support Group: US Institute of Peace, Eastern Mennonite University, Institute of Peace & Justice          

SUMMARY

In many parts of the world, significant and increasing contributions to conflict transformation and peace building are being made by local practitioners concerned about peace and stability of their communities, using locally integrated, indigenous, conflict transformation institutions and practices. These practices are often suitable to the circumstances in which they operate as they satisfy the aspirations of the people concerned. They are often as successful – or more so – than contemporary institutions and practices. These indigenous institutions are sometimes more useful than the modern systems, yet we know little about them. Many of these institutions are undocumented. Methodical and academic presentation of these structures can provide us with credible tools of intervention and enable the coming generations of peace builders to benefit from such documentations.

It is in this perspective that this team wishes to explore the dynamics of an indigenous Afghani/Pakistani institution called Jirga. The world has witnessed the importance of this institution in the aftermath of September 11^th, when questions of Afghan rehabilitation and governance was subject to Jirga, a term unknown to most contemporary societies.

Jirga may be defined as a council of elders from amongst a community, appointed by the general consent of the community or by the special recommendations of the parties in dispute to deliberate upon issues to reach a consensus based on the precedents and in line with the social, ethical and religious order of the community/society.  The institution of Jirga is practiced mainly in the Pushto speaking areas of north western and western Pakistan and mainframe Afghanistan. “The literal meaning of the word is an assembly, which addresses questions between parties.”[1]  As Spain[2] has observed, “the Jirga is the closest thing to the Athenian democracy that has existed since the original”.  The Jirga is responsible for maintaining order in every social frame of life, from national and international affairs, to individual as well as collective. It may well be compared to the British Constitution, which remains unwritten and still effective and organic.

This project will research the history of Jirga, develop a conceptual framework, define main principles, compare them with contemporary structures and document them as a resource and training manual for the ongoing and forthcoming work on peace building.  The work will be a continuation previous work by Mr. Larry King, a US official of the superior judiciary, who conducted a comparative research between the tribal institutions of Afghanistan and the United States in year 2001, and work done by Dr. Patricia Omidian, Medical Anthropologist and consultant for Afghanistan and Pakistan, with Mr. Ali Gohar, then Additional Commissioner, Social Welfare Cell for Afghan Refugees at Pakistan. Mr. Hassan M. Yousufzai, in his capacity as Assistant Political Agent, organized and facilitated a seminar on the topic of Reinvigorating the Tribal Jirga in 2001 attended by 500 tribal elders. Gohar and Yousufzai, the principle researchers for this project, are Fulbright Scholars with a Masters Degree in Conflict Transformation Program (CTP) from Eastern Mennonite University, Virginia.   As part of their studies, Mr. Gohar and Mr. Yousufzai continued research on Jirga, and presented papers on the Dynamics of Jirga; History and Philosophy of Afghan Culture and Modern Jirga with focus on gender issues.

STATEMENT OF NEED

Pukhtoon tribal Jirga is one example of the presence and viability of traditional institutions, which was most recently realized in the aftermath of September 11, when the term “Loya Jirga” was repeatedly heard through the media. Such was the importance of the term that the new government was to be set up through Loya Jirga. But -- what is Jirga?   Why is Jirga important to the Pukhtoons? What are the tasks and responsibilities of the Jirga? Why, when and how does a Jirga succeed or fail? The present political arrangement in Afghanistan came about after the international community called Jirga members to a meeting in Bonn. The future Afghani government will also be set up through a Loya Jirga. Will the efforts succeed in bringing peace?

The institution of Jirga is the oldest and the most dominant component of the Pukhtoon culture and yet, so far its history, structure and activities remain unwritten. In fact this is the only institution that works as a driving force behind the entire lives of individual Pukhtoons as well as their tribes. It is the one and only tool for dispute resolution and consensus building in all areas of life. It works like a social body, a judicial court, a watchdog, a democratic legislative body and a diplomatic mission, all at one time. Most of the social institutions of Pukhtoon life rely heavily on the institution of Jirga for the routine working of their lives.  The concept of Jirga is uniform in the breadth and length of the Pukhtoon society spread over a large territory comprising central, southern and eastern Afghanistan and western and northern Pakistan.

While working on the earlier research, mentioned above, as well as on our work at CTP, we, the principle researchers, have realized, following extensive research on materials available in Pakistan, Europe, and the US, that almost no material exists on this, the oldest and the most dominant institution of Pukhtoon culture.  While several historians have written passing comments about Jirga (see bibliography), no credible study is done to understand its dynamics. We do know from reliable academicians that there is a dire need to document the principles and codes of Jirga. The institution has passed from generation to generation in the typical and traditional oral mode and its dynamics are difficult for outsiders to understand.

Currently, there is a growing interest by the international community to understand Afghan society and to assist in stabilizing the peace. In addition, it is important for NGOs and other social organizations to adopt professional methods of interventions to keep their work sustainable in the field.  Therefore we want to take up this responsibility to document the principle of Jirga in a methodical way, to compare the Afghan traditions of peace work with those of the outside world and to present the work as a resource and training manual for peace building in Afghanistan for the present and next generations of peace builders.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION & METHODOLOGY

The proposed project will produce a resource and training manual Towards Understanding Jirga (working title), focusing on intermediary roles and conflict transformation for organizations working at community level as well as academicians. Parts of the study have already been done, through our research as part of our Fulbright-sponsored graduate programs, and by earlier, preliminary work done in Pakistan. We have also done some academic research on the subject and we will continue to explore major libraries in the US, UK, and Pakistan for all the relevant material.

In July, 2002 we conducted a workshop with a wide range of field workers (about 120) to determine the most useful tribal elders (based on diversity) to be interviewed for the purpose.

The work shall comprise of collection of the most authentic history of Jirga and its principles through selected elder professionals from NWF Province of Pakistan and Afghanistan, by means of at least 30(over60) qualitative interviews with important tribal and Jirga elders.

Various individuals and organizations will be engaged to assist the process at different stages. These include qualified consultants from the Afghan refugees Commissionerate, members of the coalition for peace (an Afghan-based group of past students of EMU and other peace building programs), and prominent peace practitioners and NGOs from Afghanistan and Pakistan.  The questionnaire and methodology for the interviews was developed and refined during a workshop with representatives of about ten NGOs and some academicians, in January 2003.

Extensive interviews were conducted (in Pushto, the language of the Pukhtoon people) by Mr. Gohar and Mr. Yousufzai, over a four-month period with approximately 64 well-respected Pukhtoon elders in NWFP, Baluchistan provinces of Pakistani and Afghanistan.  The interviews will be transcribed and relevant portions translated into English.

The results of the interviews will then be presented at two workshops with other tribal and Jirga elders for verification of contents. The outcome will then be compared with the modern concepts of conflict transformation and presented to representatives of NGOs and faculty of the Area Study Center at Peshawar University for assessment. Finally the draft of the reference and training manual will be presented to the faculty and staff of Eastern Mennonite University, under the direction of Dr. Jantzi, project director, for technical analysis and final approval for publication. Each chapter will be followed with most frequently asked questions on the subject for assistance of the reader.  The manual will be published in both English and Pushto languages.  Hard-copy, CD-ROM, and web versions of the manual will provide for wide distribution and easy accessibility by practitioners and academicians.

OBJECTIVES

The manual will seek to fulfill the following objectives.

1. It will document the dynamics of Jirga in its totality.

2. It will define the principles of Jirga.

3. It will compare the components of Jirga with contemporary institutions

4. It will serve as a handbook for the outside peace building, humanitarian, and development workers for a better understanding of the cultural dogmas of the Afghan society.

5. It will serve as a training manual for the grassroots peace building for the Afghan children, youth and women.

6. it will serve as a handbook for professional Jirga members

PRELIMINARY OUTLINE

Since the manual will be developed collaboratively with the contributing organizations, on-ground interviews with at least thirty known experts on Jirga and a series of feedbacks and data evaluation, the following outline is tentative. Each chapter of the manual will end with a series of most frequently asked questions.

CHAPTERS

      1. Introduction

      2. Definitions and historical background

3.. Spiritual and inherent roots of Jirga.

4. Essentials of Jirga

5. Intermediary roles of Jirga

• Proactive appeal

• Preventive intervention

• Facilitation

• Mediation

• Arbitration

6. Transformations, Reconciliation and Restoration within the Jirga

7. Roles of Jirga

Judicial

• Executive role

• Prosecution role

• Legislative role of Jirga

• Diplomatic role

8. Efficacy and Distinctive nature of Jirga

                                 Role of religion, role of law, role of society, role of tradition and Spiritual/inherent roots of Jirga

WORK PLAN

Work done prior to grant project:

1.  Available books and previous research on the subject. The two primary researchers and the program manager will write an academic research paper by July, 2002.

2.  Consultations and Identification of Potential Interviewees.  The principle researchers are in consultation with a number of NGOs, prominent practitioners of Jirga, and member of Civil Society, to get a continuous feed back on the process and the outcome of the effort.

Work plan for (January 2003 – September 2004)

1.  Develop questionnaire for interviews through group discussions with representatives of NGOs, field workers and resource people. (January 2003)

2.  Qualitative interviews with 64 prominent / elderly Jirga elders both from Afghanistan and Pakistan. (February-July 2003)

3.  Transcription, partial translation and assessment of interviews. (August 2003 to February 2004)

4.  First draft of manual and preliminary editing. (March 2004)

5.  Review workshops on draft findings by locals/elders. (April 2004)

6.  Compilation of revised draft manual and technical review by Project Director Vernon Jantzi and others at the Conflict Transformation Program at Eastern Mennonite University. (May 2004)

7.  Review of work by professionals/academicians at Area Study Centre, Peshawar University. (February 2004)    

8.  Final Draft analysis at EMU (March-Mid April 2004)

9. Translation in Pushto and Printing/ Publication.  (April-July 2004)

10. Circulation (August-September 2004)

EVALUATION

Several methods will be employed to measure the usefulness of the manual both during development and following the publication.

• A group of academicians/intellectuals and the ten contributing NGOs (both from Afghanistan and Pakistan) have contributed in development of the questionnaire and they provide ongoing critique of the manual during development stages, in terms of appropriateness in their particular context, allowing for revision and improvement during the writing process.

• The transcripts of the 64 qualitative interviews will be evaluated at two separate workshops with other tribal/Jirga elders.

• The rough draft of the manual shall be presented to the group of intellectuals for evaluation.

• The faculty of EMU will evaluate a final draft under the supervision of the project director Dr. Vernon Jantzi.

DISTRIBUTION OF FINAL PRODUCT

        The work shall be presented in two languages, i.e. Pushto and English.

        The work shall be available for free circulation to various international libraries and net works of peace building organizations.

1.      Hard Copies and CD ROMs

2.      Web Page of CTP, www.emu.edu

3.      Web pages of other organizations.

RESOURCE PEOPLE

The Project Director, Dr. Vernon E. Jantzi is the Director of Conflict Transformation Program at Eastern Mennonite University. The two major collaborators are Hassan M. Yousufzai, who worked as Assistant Political Agent at Bajaur Agency and Ali Gohar who worked as Additional Commissioner, Social Welfare Cell at Afghan Refugees Commissionerate (a UNHCR initiative).    Amongst the prominent collaborators is, Larry J. King, Esq., who currently practices personal injury and employment law in Olympia, Washington and serves as appellate judge for Northwest Inter-Tribal court system. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to teach and study in Pakistan. Based in Islamabad, September 2000 through January 2001, Judge King, in addition to his tribal Jirga studies, also spent considerable time in traditional courts with Pakistani judges and lawyers.

List of resource people is as under and will be revised on availability and willingness of individuals to patronize and review the work, and help the principal researches with their valuable contributions which will then form a part of the final product. 

• John Dixon

• Larry King, Appellate judge for northwest inter tribal court system.

• Usman Yaqub, Commission for Afghan Refugees.

• Dr. Patricia Omidian, Anthropologist

• Howard Zehr, Director Conflict Transformation Program, EMU

• John Paul Lederach, Professor, University of Rotterdam.

• Janice M. Jenner, Director Institute of Justice and Peace.

• Swiss Aid, Director, Dr. Batin Shah Safi

• Javed Akhtar, A senior community based development practitioner.

• Nadia Khan, Research Associate

• Noor Akbar, Research Associate.

PRELIMNARY /TENTATIVE LIST

• Afghan Refugees Jirga Chief, Kacha Garhi, Mujahid Nazir

• Consultant CHA, Dr. Patricia Omidian

• Head Turkmen Tribe, Attock Camp, Mr. Rehmat German,

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