In recent times, the emergence of the Pakistani Taliban, especially in the tribal areas, and the strengthening of the anti-U.S. Haqqani Network (Afghan Taliban) has further propagated the violent image of the Pashtuns. However, the loss of thousands of Pashtun lives in Pakistan's Pashtun tribal areas-along with targeted killings of tribal elders at the hands of the militants-suggests that the Pashtuns in the former-FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) region have mostly been victims, rather than perpetrators of violence (Z. Ali, 2010; South Asia Terrorism Portal [SATP], 2017). Hence, due to the rise of militancy in the tribal areas, Pakistani military operations, and the U.S. drone strikes, the tribal Pashtuns have been both directly and indirectly affected, losing lives and living in fear along with their properties being destroyed (
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have mostly been hostile since 1947. The animosity has grown in complexity from various territorial disputes to frequent allegations of cross-border terrorism in the post-9/11 era. This article first makes a case for involving Jirgas, a traditional dispute resolution mechanism among Pashtuns, for improving peace dialogues between both countries. It presents evidence of the traditional acceptability of Jirgas by Pashtuns on both sides of the border and assesses previous official bilateral attempts of using Jirgas. It then proceeds to propose some new policy recommendations focused on national reconstruction of Afghanistan, which include involvement of the Taliban as an important local stakeholder. The dual key argument then becomes, first, that since Jirgas have long-standing local legitimacy and acceptability both in Afghanistan and Pakistan, using the strength of their social recognition would allow higher-level bilateral negotiations between the neighbours, enhancing the effectiveness of new and locally more credible forms of multi-track diplomacy. Second, reinvigorating the Jirga system would allow the Afghan people themselves to engage in fuller multi-dimensional debates on sustainable modalities for their own future, on terms to be set by them, not outsiders.
Pakistan is experiencing a youth bulge with more than half of its population under the age of 30 years. Economic, political and security challenges, however, prevent the nation from fully utilizing its demographic advantage. Over the last decade, terrorism has become a major security issue. This article is based on primary research of Pakistani university students’ views on terrorism and related challenges. Its results reveal that the youth is concerned about the domestic triggers of terrorism and students’ place of origin impact upon experiences of terrorism. Moreover, while just under two-thirds of respondents from federally administered tribal areas (FATA) said they had been directly affected by terrorism, less than one-third of Punjabis provided the same response.
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