ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 of this book focuses on efforts initiated by Pashtun tribal elders themselves, using the vehicle of Jirga, to engage in peace and conflict resolution in the tribal areas. The previous chapter pointed out that in those situations in which militants have exercised enhanced authority and influence in the local tribal regions, this has often been at the expense of traditional tribal authority structures in these regions, centred on tribal elders. This chapter focuses on the efforts of tribespeople to engage in peace and conflict resolution in their local tribal areas from 2002 onwards. In its first and second sections, the chapter discusses various peace and conflict resolution initiatives of tribal elders to counter militants in their local regions, using Jirga as a basis by which such initiatives are proposed and agreed to by tribal elders, and Lashkar (militia convened by Jirga and made up of tribal members) as the instrument by which decisions of Jirga are enforced. In its final section, the chapter discusses various obstructions faced by the tribal Pashtuns in effectively using these methods. By discussing these efforts, the chapter argues why, even with limitations and unlike their portrayal of being sympathetic to militants, the ‘tribal’ Pashtuns engaged in efforts to fight various terrorist groups in the region.
