PAKHTUNS AND THE WAR ON TERROR: A CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The war on terror, starting in October 2001, instead of stemming terrorism from the region, has further radicalized the Pakhtun society. The prevailing terrorism in the shape of Talibanization in the Pakhtun region of Pakistan has not been a result of the normal functional social change; rather, it has been the product of a conscious policy of social engineering in the Pakhtun society. The combination of culture reductionism and policy of social engineering produce a distorted picture of the Pakhtuns’ culture. Analysis of the history of religious mobilizations, nature of the current militant uprising, and the phenomenon of violence in the Pakhtun culture demonstrates that the Taliban form of terrorism, whose ideology transcends national boundaries, has no causal relationship with the socially controlled and limited-in-scope violence in the Pakhtun society. State institutions are weak to the point of non-existence mainly due to a limited government writ, especially in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Therefore, there is a strong reliance on social and cultural institutions. The destruction of, and indifference to these social and cultural institutions by the counter-terrorism campaign and by the Taliban activities has given further impetus to the problem of terrorism in the Pakhtun society.