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| India-Pakistan |
| Changes in North Waziristan |
| 2004-01-02 |
| EFL, interesting piece, i’m not how representative the people quoted are, since tribal leaders and government officials are likely to tow the government line. But it’s hopeful at least. Worshippers including local elders still flood the famous madrassah Jamia Nizamia. The seminary continues to be a stronghold for the once pro-Taliban Jamiat Ulama-i Islam (JUI) and the black-and-white strapped flag fluttering near the dome of the mosque still reminds visitors of its origin. But the zeal that had come with Mulla Omar’s Taliban seems to have evaporated, a stark contrast to the situation in 1999. Mehfoozuallah, a local tribesman recalls what he still describes as the ‘crazy days’. In 1999, the Taliban passion was sweeping the whole border region; they would come from across the border unhindered to do things that even locals would not dare, Mefoozullah reminisces. One October evening that year, residents of the Mir Ali village, some 35 kilometres short of Miranshah, the administrative headquarter of North Waziristan, heard some noises in the market followed by a few shops set alight. To their utter shock and surprise, the tribesmen encountered over two-dozen Afghan Taliban, who had set about to destroy video and audio shops as well as TV sets placed at some places. ‘They simply went on the rampage with the help of local Taliban and no one could dare challenge them,’ recalls Mefoozullah. The presumption that these mercenaries enjoyed the patronage of the local JUI-F Taliban and the sanction by the authorities forced the local tribesmen into silence. But how could all this happen on the Pakistani side, was there no official check on such intrusions? The question agitates the mind while listening to the literalist excesses of the Taliban and their Pakistani counterparts. Mailk Mamoor Khan Torikhel, a tribal chieftain, probably gave the clearest and the most candid answer: ‘People thought the army and the intelligence agencies were at their back and therefore had little resistance to offer,’ Khan told TFT at Miranshah. ‘But what about the support for the Taliban in general, then and now?’, TFT asked. ‘Then the agencies had wanted and supported the movement, so everybody went along. Now under the American diktat the army and the intelligence don’t want it, so not many people parrot loudly what Mulla Omar and his Pakistani cohorts used to say,’ Khan said in his crisp tone. Ethnic affinity provided the glue that bound the religiously-driven Afghan zealots with ultra-conservative Pashtun tribes here. These people, even after the ouster of the Taliban, are in a way still beholden to the village mullah as far as their social congregations – weddings and funerals – is concerned. ‘If the mulla finds out that we have a TV at home, he would not lead the funeral prayers for any of our family members,’ said Yaseen Torikhel, a student from a government college in the area. For the mullah here, watching TV is still taboo. But practically, majority of homes enjoy the idiot box discretely. Everybody has a decoy antenna for the reception. This also underlines a new trend; people are ready to circumvent religious taboos in pursuit of knowledge. Nabi Mohammad, a Mir Ali resident explains: ‘I don’t think there is any way around radio and TV. Our children need education and TV is part of the process of education,’ he argued emphatically. The village comprises some 60,000 people and the literacy rate here runs as high as 60 percent, almost like an oasis in the desert. The areas around Mir Ali – Khajuri and Miranshah , for instance, are still predominantly illiterate with most elders scoffing at the thought of sending their girls to school. ‘They belong at home and must learn the Quran only, that is enough,’ said a Torikhel elder. But Zaheerul Islam, the assistant political officer (APO) for North Waziristan, believes the new generation in the tribal areas is more receptive to education and information. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #1 Thx for the article, good catch. This is an area of great interest in regards to what is going on in Pakistan these days. |
| Posted by: chinditz 2004-1-2 6:00:04 AM |