For the love of India and memory of Tirah

by Saba

Qaimganj/Kaimganj through My Eyes…

One of the things that still fills me with amazement is when people from outside India express surprise that there are Pashtun tribes with their roots in different parts of India flourishing even today. Well, I want to announce to the world that I am proud to be an Afridi Pashtun who can trace back her family’s ancestral roots to the Tirah Valley which straddles the Kurram & Khyber Agency Nonetheless, I am equally proud to be an Indian and a diehard patriot. This may raise eyebrows but it is important that this fact is acknowledged. This country has given me everything that a person can strive or dream to have.

Brought up in a typical Muslim Pashtun household and fed on the stories of chivalry, bravery, knighthood & valor about our grandfather, great grandfather, ancestors etc. I always felt this underlying closeness towards Afghanistan its people and my heart till today weeps at the plight of Pashtun brethren that are living in such dire circumstances in that part of the world. Though I have never been to the country nor do I know much about the place, yet I feel that there is an eternal connection with the people, place and culture.

Kaimganj is a small village in district Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh in North India; this is the place where my father was born and had spent his early years. Though I was neither born there nor spent my initial years in my paternal house, summer vacations were nevertheless something I always looked forward to. It meant spending time in the green fields with cousins, talking, playing, long strolls, taking a dip in the tube-well learning to swim and almost getting drowned, plucking mangoes from the orchard and spending loads of time climbing trees. But equally the most fascinating thing (which is crystal clear and engraved in my mind) is seeing older cousins, my father and his cousins cleaning their guns, practicing their aim, and listening to hoary tales from yesteryear. About how his uncle fired at his nephew for a trivial matter, how one of the dacoits came to our house and how my father jumped with a gun in front of his dad and fired back at the dacoit, and perhaps the most important thing (for me) how my grandfather’s mother known as “Captani” (because her husband was a captain in the Gwalior army) used to rule the house.

All this just had an overwhelming affect on me. And by the time my vacations were over and I came back to Delhi I used to be full of pride and vanity that I belonged to such a warrior tribe. My young mind found immense satisfaction in the fact that we were fighters and we could fight anything and everything. This is how we were brought up. I remember even at school I was quite arrogant about my connection with Afghanistan and Pashtuns. Despite being a slight young girl I did not fear anyone and it is so strange that now when I look back, I realize that even my classmates and other children at school used to look up to me as a very strong protective person who could stand up for herself and protect others. I remember standing up to a few guys in my school much senior to me, and to my absolute astonishment when the incident was reported to my father, instead of scolding me, or questioning me he was apparently quite proud of the fact, that I had stood up for myself. In a few days the story of me standing up to bullies was public and all of a sudden I became a “hero” in Kaimganj. Next summer vacation when I visited my ancestral village and met relatives this was one story everyone from all age groups wanted to know about. I made them all very proud keeping the true warrior spirit of an Afridi!

This was just a one off tale of the many years that I spent growing up amongst other Indian Pashtuns. Years have passed by, and now when I look back I feel it was like another era. As I was always interested in finding about my roots I started reading and found that the structure of houses, traditions and culture are still the same in Kaimganj as it is amongst the Afridi clans of Tirah. All houses are built with a baithak or dalaan (Hujra) where the men gather and then there are open verandahs followed by the living area for women. Women in Kaimganj are not oppressed but like most Eastern cultures are objects of pride & modesty. They are the ones who carry the burden of “ghar ki izzat” on their shoulders. They are supposed to wear a “chaddar” if and when they are going out of the “dehleez” of their premises; however I could never understand the concept because men standing out and gazing at women in “chaddars” always knew who they were and where they were going!

Another very vivid memory of my childhood is of marriages that used to take place in Kaimganj. It was such a big affair the festivities would go on forever. Of the many traditions my personal favorites were playing with colors, which happens in the groom’s house. All the girls of the family apply color to the white head cloth (sar ka salloo) for the bride and then this is presented to the bride, whereas, there is no religious significance for this ritual what I came to understood is that as colors are a way to express love & prosperity, this ritual is done to bless the bride with all happiness and colors for the new married life that she is stepping into. After the head cloth is colored the girls start playing with the colors amongst themselves. This tradition has a close resemblance to the Hindu festival of Holi. Other than this, what I really found strange was that there was no dinner or meal provided on the day of the Nikah ceremony. It was only the next day that guests were invited by the groom’s family for reception (dawat-e-walima). Instead the girl’s family would host a dinner a day before the Nikah. But these are not the only two occasions where large feasts are involved in fact the day the guests start arriving the feasts start. Instead the formal marriage dinner, (which is not so formal), which may occur on the day of the Nikah elsewhere is considered as if for these two days. There are large tandoors set up in the open area, there are no banquet halls or hotels for the ceremonies everything is done within the house and if required the nearby fields are made ready to accommodate a large number of men by covering the area with a nice marquee.

Another interesting tradition, which was practiced in Kaimganj and is supposed to be an Afghani tradition, is of tying multiple hair plaits for the bride which the groom has to untie. Quite fascinating! The dress worn by the groom is also something that is an old Afridi traditional dress called the “Jama” the tradition of which, with the passage of time is now dying down. The dress is made of fine muslin chikankari cloth usually white in color.

The language spoken in Kaimganj still has some Pashto words. As a child I used to pick up these words but I didn’t know at that time that these are words from the Pashto language. It was much later that I discovered this fact. Sadly, the language died three or four generations ago and now there are only few words here and there left of the Pashto language.

Times have changed, as have the traditions. People nowadays do not have enough time to invest or think about our long lost culture and roots. However, few things will remain alive in our memories forever. The closeness that I personally feel with Afghanistan and the people is just platonic and cannot be well expressed in words.

Comments from Khyber

The fall of Tirah valley to the Taliban in Pakistan's Federally administered tribal areas has triggered a wave of internally displaced refugees. As part of our focus on challenging the narrative; local researchers Farooq and Shabir with help from writer  Noreen Nasser compiles information on the region for Qissa Khwani.

The mandatory orientalist reference for any article on the tribal areas

Some information and names have been changed to protect the identities of people.

Background: Located in the northwest of the Khyber Agency is the  beautiful and fertile Tirah Valley, the original home of all the Afridi and Orakzai tribes. Tirah Valley has two parts: one is in  Khyber agency and other is in Orakzai Agency.  In Khyber agency, eight tribes of Afridis are residing and are at war with each other for power between the militants groups ( Qamber Khail, Koki Khail, Malak din Khail, Zakha Khail, Aka Khail, Adam Khail, Sipah and Kamar Khail).

Presently in Khyber Tirah there are five major militants groups fighting for power and control: Lashkar- e -Islam (Mangal Bagh group, Mangal Bagh a bus conductor by profession). Ansar –ul- islam     (Mehboob group, Mehboob an imam of local Madrassa). Tehrik- e- Taliban (Tariq Afridi group an extraneous group, Tariq Afridi came from Dara Adam Khel a college graduate and brother of a Judge, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Judiciary), Tauheed-e- Islam (Aman lashkar of Zakha Khel sponsored by Pakistan Army: sarcastically referred to as ' good taliban' ) and 'Amar bil maroof wa nahi ul munkar' ( Haji Namdar group controlling lower Khyber Agency).  Lashkar- e- Islam apparent agenda is to implement Islamic Sharia but according to local people Mangal Bagh has no knowledge of Islam, he simply wants to control Khyber Agency. This group has people from  all the tribes of Afridis, it was controlling Bara area but now due to military presence they are carrying out their activities covertly.

In Tirah, it is presently occupying Aka Khail and Sipah tribes and also has some presence in small pockets of Malak din Khail and Kamar Khail areas. No body exactly knows about this group hideouts as they are constantly changing places. But it is believed that Mangal Bagh a Sipah himself resides near Pak-Afghan border in the area of Sipah tribe and guarded by young boys age 15-21.Ansar- ul- islam group is the main militant group in Tirah. It controls Tirah Zakha Khail, partial Qamber Khail area, Malak din Khail, Adam Khail and Shalobar (was part of Qamber Khail now known as independent tribe area). They are staunch rivals of Mangal Bagh group in the valley. Due to their skirmishes and differences hundreds of people lost their lives and thousands were displaced in lower parts of Khyber Agency. Tehrik-Taliban Tariq Afridi group of Dara Adam Khel is presently stationed and controlling Koki Khail area of Tirah Valley. It is also one of the strongest opponent of Mangal Bagh in the valley as well as in the lower parts of Khyber Agency. Tariq Afridi group moved to Tirah valley due to Pakistan Army operation in Dera Adam Khel. This group influenced by Sipah-e-Sahaba was involved in sectarian violence and kidnapping. Besides kidnapping and killing, Tariq Afridi was also fighting another group back in Dara known as Momin Afridi Group supported by Pakistan Military (good Taliban). Momin Afridi group stationed in Dara Adam Khel has Pakistan Army’s support against Tariq because its activities are more based in Afghanistan. Tauheed-e-Islam (good taliban) is a newly formed group with the blessing of Pakistan Army to counter Lashkar -e -Islam also called Aman lashkar. It has limited control over the territory of Zakha Khail and failed to contain Lashkar-e-Islam in Tirah. Amar bil Maroof Wa Nahi Ul Munkar group founder was Haji Namdar later assassinated by a young boy while praying in 2008. In Khyber Agency, it was the pioneer militant group created to fight evils of the society. Lashkar-e-Islam is its splinter group but even they are not on good terms, clashes occurred several times between them.  Amar bil Maroof Wa Nahi Ul Munkar control Qamber Khail Bara area and some parts of Tirah.
  

The major questions are : who are fighting and killing thousands of innocent people of  Tirah, Khyber Agency? why they are fighting?, where they are fighting? and who suffers the most in their lust for power?


Lashkar- e -islam and Ansar –ul- Islam are the two major militant groups in confrontation with each other. Initially their clashes started in Malak din Khail area of Tirah Maidan and according to local people it was the peak of their cruelty and violence, brothers and cousin were forced to fight against each other. Here I would like to narrate a tragic story of Najib hailing from Tirah Valley. He was a student of intermediate (computer science),studious, humble, calm and a normal boy of eighteen and never harmed any one. He was forced to fight for Lashkar-e-Islam against Ansar- ul –Islam as he was the only young boy in his family, his elder brother was in United Kingdom and father was too old.
 It is mandatory for the people living in these militant controlled areas to handover one young man to fight the rival group. Najib was not trained for war, therefore he was used as a shield to protect the trained militants. This strategy was adopted by both the groups that untrained would be in the front line to protect the trained militants and if anyone tried to escape or leave, either his family would be harmed or that person would be slaughtered. Najib fate was no different from those who tried to escape, he was cut into pieces and delivered to his family in a sack. These  atrocities terrorized Tirah people so much that they never tried or had the courage to oppose any group. After taking over the Malak din Khail areas in Tirah, Ansar- ul -islam started its aggression in  Kamar Khail (Sokh Area), Akka Khail (Dars Jummat), Sipah (Saanda paal). But again after furious fighting with Lashkar-e-Islam surrendered back these areas except Shalobar.  According to informal sources more than 1500 people are killed from both sides and nearly 2500 were injured (these are estimates of militant death toll, local population is not included that was killed in a collateral damage). Interestingly both groups claimed their dead as martyred of Islam (Shaheed) and the other “murdaar”,(derogatory word of Pashtu used for dead).

In Zakha Khail area rein of terror was unleashed when Lashkar- e -Islam killed a religious scholar . In reaction to the assassination of their scholar Zakha Khail tribe formed a group with the help of Pakistan Army Tauheed-ul-Islam (good taliban). Before the emergence of this group Zakha Khail area was under Lashkar-e-Islam, major conflict areas are Nari Baba and Sur Ghar. During their skirmishes almost three hundred people lost their lives.

Who suffered the most?

All Afridi tribes were affected but we have tried to generally categorize on the basis of death toll, displacement, and other financial and property losses: Malak din Khail is the most affected tribe in terms  human, financial losses and displacement. Sipah tribe was affected financially due to closure of Bara Market since 2007, human losses are also there as they were forced to take part in those clashes. Shalobar is the second largest tribe in terms of human losses and also suffered a lot due to displacement. Kamar Khail occupies the third position in death toll and financial losses. Aka Khail can be placed at fourth position that suffered a lot after Kamar Khail Zakha khail their losses are less as compare to other tribes but after creating its own group suffered human losses recently from Mangal Bagh group (local people are quite skeptic about this army supported group).

Pakistan Military and its role?


Pakistan Army for the first time enter into the area of Tirah Valley in 2002, formed several check posts at Pak-Afghan border and also in Morga ( which connects with Tora Bora via Kurram Agency).

In 2007-8, army pulled out of Tirah and now there is no army camp, post or base. The FC and Militia is looking after the Pak-Afghan border and whenever needed Pakistan Air force is called upon to target militants causing huge casualties and displacement.  According to locals a Pakistan Army major excuse for pulling back was the lack of facilities in the hard terrain which creates problem in the supply for the security forces.

Why government  and army failed in controlling the situation:

According to local opinion government and army is not interested to eliminate militancy in Tirah. Government and Army excuse is that Tirah is a difficult terrain and they don’t have the resources to combat militants. The recent fighting in the Tirah Valley between Lashkar-i-Islam and Ansar -ul -Islam is for the control of Saanda paal. This area is strategically important because through Saanda paal peak the whole valley of Tirah can be guarded and controlled. Whoever gets the control of this peak, can control and if needed target Tirah areas.  Nowadays it is under the control of Mangal Bagh. It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan Army has left these groups to their own devices, waiting and watching but in this process of indifference hundreds of innocent people have lost their lives.