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January 22, 2007
Tribal Targets
For much of the Pakistan’s history the federally administered tribal areas (FATA) have been off limits to the central government both in terms of governance systems as well as social services. Governing the tribal belt was a tabooed topic that no one dared to advance in Islamabad’s halls of power. There was a stale sense of sanctity ascribed to this terrain that most were too afraid to tread upon. With scant investment in educational infrastructure and social development the tribal areas became a twilight zone for those who wished to cling to a bygone warrior era.
The missiles that destroyed a madrassah in Bijaur agency last year (supposedly fired by American aircraft) have alerted Pakistanis to how President Musharraf has taken on the task of breaking the tribal taboo. Yet has the government considered what constitutes a tribal identity in the greater context of pan-Islamism that so many in this frontier region claim to espouse? The other tribal target for the current government has been the Baluch communities which also frame their identity in tribal terms, though with a much lesser allegiance to Islam. As one Baluch leader recently remarked in an interview to the BBC, betrayal of his tribal identity was an act of kufr (blasphemy) for him. The notion of kufr leads us to yet another tribal group that have been given the epithet of kafir, (infidel), though with more benign connotations.
The fabled Kafir-Kalash tribe (a.k.a. Kalasha) have been the most celebrated “infidels” of Pakistan, but have lived in relatively peaceful coexistence with their Muslim neighbors in the Chitral valley. However, even this remote community of less than 3000 individuals has recently been under siege through forces of religious intolerance and economic intrusion. As polytheists, the tribe have found themselves in the unenviable category of mushrikeen and hence particularly ripe for conversion. Unlike their ethnically similar neighbors in Nuristan, the Kalasha have so far been spared any cornered conversions. However, this may change as religious radicalization spreads across the tribal frontier. While Islamic doctrine is very clear on there being “no compulsion in religion” (Surah Baqarah, verse 256), there is no denying the pressure of evangelism in Pakistan, from cricket teams to remote tribal communities.
Tribal populations constitute ancient social systems which historically provided a means of survival under hostile environmental conditions. At one level, we should try to transcend “tribalism” as broader conceptions of human civilization are accepted. On the other hand, such tribal affiliations, give us distinct and diverse cultural traditions -- food, music and language which provide texture and meaning to the fabric of humanity. Thus targeting tribalism is always going to be a challenge for those who wish to preserve such diversity.
Unlike Judaism, both Christianity and Islam have attempted to go beyond tribal identity as a binding force. All ethnic groups are welcome to join without any requirement of matrilineal association or ethnic descent as was traditionally the case with Judaism. However, the darker side of this universalism in the later two Abrahamic faiths has been their propensity to proselytize and claim exclusivity over salvation. By claiming that only their adherents can reach heaven, many Muslims and Christians have themselves formed tribal identities that are connected by scripture rather than ethnicity or genetics.
The international community is confronted with the dilemma of whether or not religious identity should be subsumed within the broader categorization of “culture,” when it serves to negate other cultural attributes such as music and art. Last year, I attended a meeting of the United Nations Permanent forum on Indigenous People in New York. This was a colorful gathering of tribal groups from around the world who self-defined themselves as those having the most continuous and close relationship to their region of habitation. There was one Pakistani delegate at the meeting from Chitral who repeatedly expressed concerns about the perils of nationalism in stifling tribal expression.
Given this prior exposure to the debate on indigenous recognition, it was gratifying to learn in June of this year that the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a landmark declaration on the rights of indigenous people. Pakistan voted in favor of this declaration along with 44 other members. Only two members of the council voted against the declaration – Russia and Canada, which are physically the world’s first and second largest countries respectively. Geographic expanse may explain the fear of these two countries in endorsing some aspects of the declaration which they felt could erode a sense of national identity. Yet, if we are to mitigate such threats to national unity and conflict escalation, the only way forward is to develop a truly global identity which trumps the divisive aspects of tribalism at multiple levels.
Once we are able to recognize our mutual interdependence on global resources, the positive aspects of tribalism, as exemplified by indigenous languages, art and learning can shine through. Religious devotion and patriotism to national identities could also coexist in such a world but with due deference to the larger goal of a truly “civil” society.
Posted by Saleem Ali at January 22, 2007 09:45 PM
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