Mahmood Khan Achakzai, chairman of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) announced on February 21, 2022 that his party would host a Pashtun national jirga in Bannu on March 11, 12 and 13, 2022. The PkMAP has invited major Pashtun political parties, such as Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Awami National Party, Mazdoor Kisan Party and National Democratic Movement. Tribal elders, farmers, workers, professors, students, intellectuals, businessmen and religious scholars have been invited -- to make it more inclusive and legitimate.
Jirga, meaning a gathering of people, is originally a Pashto word. It is used in Turkish, Dari and Persian languages as well. Jirga is a traditional Afghan institution closely bound up with political and social realities of everyday life in Pashtun society. It is rooted in history and culture of Pashtuns. It functions as a legislative and judicial authority which maintains a balance between traditional codes of conduct (Pashtunwali), Islamic laws and modern legal structures. Like democracy, jirga guarantees maximum participation of people in decision-making on the basis of consensus.
Historically, jirga has been used to resolve socio-economic, political, national and cultural conflicts among Afghans. The greatest form of jirga is Loya Jirga (Grand National Assembly) where tribal and national leaders, religious scholars and intellectuals participate. It is usually summoned to select a new king, to declare a war or to decide how to counter an enemy. It can also be called to decide the future of the nation.
Mirwais Nika called a Loya Jirga at Shahri Safa in 1707. Different tribal heads, national army commanders and religious scholars participated in this jirga, where it was decided to fight the Gorgin. The most famous jirga in Afghan history was held in 1747 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Ahmed Shah Abdali was selected as the first king of modern Afghanistan at the gathering.
Loya Jirga was also called in 1922, 1964, 1976, 1980. Beside these jirgas, the one called in 2002, on the base of the Bonn Agreement (2001), marks an important event in Afghan history, as for the first time steps were taken to establish a new modern democratic Afghanistan.
After the announcement of the 3rd June plan, Pashtuns on this side of the Durand Line called a national jirga in Bannu on June 21, 1947. It was joined by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan), Khan Shaheed Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai, and other tribal elders. The jirga passed the famous Bannu Resolution, which demanded that, “the British should offer the option of independence for Pashtunistan, comprising all Pashtun territories in British India, rather than choosing between the independent dominions of India and Pakistan”.
This demand was rejected by the British, and followers of the said leaders boycotted the referendum. As a result, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa became part of Pakistan.
Many ex-presidents, ministers and bureaucrats have confessed that smaller nations have been exploited. Nationalist struggles, in non-violent style of politics, have been carried out from the start against Pashtuns. Consequently, at least 40,000 Pashtuns have become victims of terrorism, stereotyped and racially profiled. Pashtun leaders are killed. Their political activists are jailed for raising dissenting voices. Their resources are robbed. They are unemployed, poorly-educated and malnourished.
Mahmood Khan Achakzai has said on numerous occasions that it is the need of the hour to call a Pashtun national jirga. Ex-senator and veteran Pashtun nationalist Shaheed Usman Kakar, before his mysterious death in June last year, had stressed many times that a national jirga must be called to decide the national agenda to protect the rights of Pashtuns in Pakistan.
At the funeral of Usman Kakar, Achakzai said, “We have said it numerous times that national jirga is need of the hour, and Usman Kakar wanted the same. But he couldn’t see it happen. We hereby announce that the PkMAP will call a national jirga in Bannu soon.”
Based on the timing and venue of the jirga called in March this year, political analysts think it would be as significant as the one held in Bannu in 1948.
Jirga, meaning a gathering of people, is originally a Pashto word. It is used in Turkish, Dari and Persian languages as well. Jirga is a traditional Afghan institution closely bound up with political and social realities of everyday life in Pashtun society. It is rooted in history and culture of Pashtuns. It functions as a legislative and judicial authority which maintains a balance between traditional codes of conduct (Pashtunwali), Islamic laws and modern legal structures. Like democracy, jirga guarantees maximum participation of people in decision-making on the basis of consensus.
Historically, jirga has been used to resolve socio-economic, political, national and cultural conflicts among Afghans. The greatest form of jirga is Loya Jirga (Grand National Assembly) where tribal and national leaders, religious scholars and intellectuals participate. It is usually summoned to select a new king, to declare a war or to decide how to counter an enemy. It can also be called to decide the future of the nation.
Mirwais Nika called a Loya Jirga at Shahri Safa in 1707. Different tribal heads, national army commanders and religious scholars participated in this jirga, where it was decided to fight the Gorgin. The most famous jirga in Afghan history was held in 1747 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Ahmed Shah Abdali was selected as the first king of modern Afghanistan at the gathering.
At the funeral of Usman Kakar, Achakzai said, “We have said it numerous times that national jirga is need of the hour, and Usman Kakar wanted the same. But he couldn’t see it happen. We hereby announce that the PkMAP will call a national jirga in Bannu soon.”
Loya Jirga was also called in 1922, 1964, 1976, 1980. Beside these jirgas, the one called in 2002, on the base of the Bonn Agreement (2001), marks an important event in Afghan history, as for the first time steps were taken to establish a new modern democratic Afghanistan.
After the announcement of the 3rd June plan, Pashtuns on this side of the Durand Line called a national jirga in Bannu on June 21, 1947. It was joined by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan), Khan Shaheed Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai, and other tribal elders. The jirga passed the famous Bannu Resolution, which demanded that, “the British should offer the option of independence for Pashtunistan, comprising all Pashtun territories in British India, rather than choosing between the independent dominions of India and Pakistan”.
This demand was rejected by the British, and followers of the said leaders boycotted the referendum. As a result, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa became part of Pakistan.
Many ex-presidents, ministers and bureaucrats have confessed that smaller nations have been exploited. Nationalist struggles, in non-violent style of politics, have been carried out from the start against Pashtuns. Consequently, at least 40,000 Pashtuns have become victims of terrorism, stereotyped and racially profiled. Pashtun leaders are killed. Their political activists are jailed for raising dissenting voices. Their resources are robbed. They are unemployed, poorly-educated and malnourished.
Mahmood Khan Achakzai has said on numerous occasions that it is the need of the hour to call a Pashtun national jirga. Ex-senator and veteran Pashtun nationalist Shaheed Usman Kakar, before his mysterious death in June last year, had stressed many times that a national jirga must be called to decide the national agenda to protect the rights of Pashtuns in Pakistan.
At the funeral of Usman Kakar, Achakzai said, “We have said it numerous times that national jirga is need of the hour, and Usman Kakar wanted the same. But he couldn’t see it happen. We hereby announce that the PkMAP will call a national jirga in Bannu soon.”
Based on the timing and venue of the jirga called in March this year, political analysts think it would be as significant as the one held in Bannu in 1948.