The Social Implications of the United States’ Invasion of Afghanistan for Waziristan

Abstract

The tragic event of 9/11 and the subsequent US-led NATO Forces attack on Afghanistan left tremendous impacts on the Pashtun community living across the Pak-Afghan border. Owing to its immediate proximity and porous border with Afghanistan the tribal areas of Pakistan in general, and Waziristan in particular became a sanctuary for Taliban. The ensuing war between the State and non-State actors has scores of impacts on the region such as economic, political and cultural. This paper, however, due to space limitations, only explores some of the major social institutions of Waziristan such as the tribal Maliks (influential tribal chiefs), Jirga system (council of tribal elders), Lashkar (volunteer tribal militia) and Hujra (male community centre) that have been seriously undermined after the US invasion of Afghanistan and its spill-over effects on the region. Unlike most of the contemporary studies, that attribute the current social disruption in Waziristan to the so-called Pashtun’s cultural violence or their religiosity, this paper attempts to investigate the problem in quite a new perspective. It argues that the current disruption in the social institutions of Waziristan is due to the alignment between Washington and Islamabad and the pursuit of their respective geopolitical interests in this tribal periphery.