The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key to the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan PDF
Preview The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key to the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan
THE PASHTUN QUESTION This page intentionally left blank ABUBAKAR SIDDIQUE The Pashtun Question The Unresolved Key to the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan HURST & COMPANY, LONDON First published in the United Kingdom in 2014 by C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 41 Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3PL © Abubakar Siddique, 2014 All rights reserved. Printed in India Distributed in the United States, Canada and Latin America by Oxford University Press, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America The right of Abubakar Siddique to be identified as the author of this publication is asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988. A Cataloguing-in-Publication data record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: 978-1849042925 www.hurstpublishers.com This book is printed using paper from registered sustainable and managed sources. This book is dedicated to my parents, a source of wisdom and righteousness in my life. This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS List of Illustrations xi Glossary xiii Acknowledgements xxi Maps xxiii Introduction 1 PART ONE THEATRE OF CONQUEST 1. Twenty-first Century Pashtuns: Continuity Amid Catastrophe 9 Who are the Pashtuns? 11 The Great Tribal Maze 13 An Evolving Social Tapestry 14 A Shattered Homeland 17 From Kandahar to Swat 20 2. From Peaceful Borderlands to Incubators of Extremism 25 The Enlightened Teacher 25 The Rigid Mullah 28 The Warrior Poet 29 Afghan Empire 30 Frontier Jihads 31 The Great Game 33 The Cold War and Pashtunistan 37 The Globalisation of Jihad 40 Arab Revolutionaries 42 vii CONTENTS 3. The Taliban in Power 45 Student Militias Ascendant 47 Ruling by Decree 52 Pashtun Nationalists? 55 Pakistani Proxies? 58 Bridge to Extremism 61 PART TWO PAKISTAN 4. War in Waziristan 71 Rise of the Pakistani Taliban 72 Ideology and Paths of Action 76 The Haqqanis 79 A New Abode for Al-Qaeda 84 Islamabad’s Stepchildren 89 5. Vanishing Tribes 93 Every Valley Burns 95 Hatred Under White Mountain 102 Collective Punishment 105 Too Little, Too Late 108 6. Terror in Pakhtunkhwa 111 Revolutionary Politics 112 From Paradise to Hell 118 The Military’s Pashtun Wars 125 7. Simmering Balochistan: a Taliban Haven 133 Taliban Redux 134 Divided Deobandis 139 Balochistan: Crossroads of Conflict 141 PART THREE AFGHANISTAN 8. Old and New Islamists in Loy Nangarhar 147 Archetype Mullah 152 Salafism in Kunar 156 9. Tribes, Communists and Generational Jihadists in Loya Paktia 163 Marx Among the Tribes 166 viii CONTENTS Jihad in Blood 170 Changing Tribal Landscape 175 10. The New Taliban in Loy Kandahar 181 A Dying Nation 183 The Book of Rules 185 A Shadowy Organisation 187 Taliban Utopia 190 Making Peace with the Taliban 195 The Nationalist Card 198 PART FOUR CONCLUSION 11. Crafting a Peaceful Pashtun Future 203 Uncle Sam in Pashtunistan 205 A Democratic Pakistan 208 The Future of Afghanistan 212 A Permanent Peace 216 Notes 221 Index 255 ix
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