2,650 Enmities Resolved Through Jirgas In About 4 Years

KABUL (Pajhwok): Since the Islamic Emirate's return to power about four years ago, 2,650 enmities among families have been resolved through jirgas and mediation across the country, something analysts consider an important step towards establishing social stability and eliminating hatred.

Resolving conflicts through jirgas in Afghanistan has a long history, but still long-standing and bloody hostilities in some areas remain, putting at risk the lives of the parties involved.

Mufti Taslimullah Haqqani, the head of information and public relations at the Ministry of Borders and Tribal Affairs, told Pajhwok Afghan News that since the Islamic Emirate's return, 1,200 major and 1,450 minor conflicts had been resolved through jirgas across the country.

He said these conflicts had claimed hundreds of lives and caused injuries to many besides millions of dollars in financial losses, but in cooperation with the provincial departments of the ministry, religious scholars and tribal elders had been able to resolve these cases.

Haqqani mentioned two such hostilities in Ghor and Nuristan provinces that lasted for a hundred years and claimed dozens of lives.

He said no force was used in resolving conflicts between people, but they were solved with the consent of the parties involved. He said most of the time people themselves approached them to make peace between them.

He said currently, people in the center and provinces had shared hundreds of conflicts with them and had requested their resolution.

Religious and social perspectives

Noorullah Kausar, a member of the Academy of Sciences and a religious scholar, said peace was a fundamental commandment of Islam and anyone who makes peace between Muslims will receive a great reward.

He added:“Islam is a religion of peace, brotherhood and sisterhood. It is not permissible for a Muslim to have a dispute, fight or claim with another Muslim under any circumstances; because this is a prohibited and illegitimate act in Islam. Islam seeks peace.”

He said that if disputes between people were not resolved, it could have a negative impact on social life and unity among Muslims.

According to him, the government has a responsibility to make peace between people, resolve disputes and prevent bad customs so that a healthy atmosphere is created between people.

People's experiences

Jamil and Mohammad Wali, residents of Musa Khel district in Khost province ended their 50-year-old enmity over land, in which one person had been killed. The conflict was resolved through a Jirga last year.

Jamil said life in enmity was difficult and bitter and that he was happy that his difficult life had come to an end.

Mohammad Wali said they endured many problems during the enmity.

Analyst: Resolving disputes through jirgas leads to lasting peace

Legal expert Abdul Shakoor Dadras says it is good process to resolve disputes through Jirga because accepting the jirga's decisions means resolving the enmity forever.

He also added that for many years, the courts in Afghanistan had not been able to resolve such disputes. He said cases in courts remained unaddressed for months, while people wanted their problems to be resolved quickly, therefore they considered it necessary to approach tribal elders and resolve their disputes.

He said the courts should also be more active in this regard because they had great authority and should try to resolve disputes between people in a timely manner.

According to him, jirgas which resolve disputes should obtain written documents from the parties involved and carry out this peace process in cooperation with the courts.

He said conflicts could be prevented forever when the government was strong and its judicial system was fair, and the causes of conflicts were eliminated.

The social importance of jirgas

Analyst Moin Gul Chamkani said Afghanistan has a unique culture where jirgas were historically held to resolve small and big disputes.“Jirgas have solved people's problems and the society runs on these jirgas.”

He said when a dispute reaches the court, they first tell him to go and resolve the problem through the Jirga.

According to him, Jirga gives good results if no personal interest is involved.

Chamkani said the Islamic Emirate should find solutions to difficult issues.

He said one of the benefits of resolving disputes through the Jirga is was that the hatred was buried forever and the government's efforts in resolving disputes lead to reducing the gap between the people and the government and social stability.

He urged the government to pay more attention to the process of resolving disputes between people and to strengthen this process.

Lajward Ahmadzai, a tribal elder in Kabul who has spent about 25 years in jirgas, considers the role of jirgas important in resolving conflicts and says that members of jirgas take into account all Islamic and cultural issues in their decisions and make reconciliations based on them.

He said:“After the return of the Islamic Emirate to power, some things in jirgas have been banned. Previously, jirgas had a different form. Long ago, in rural areas, when someone committed a murder, jirgas would give women in exchange for the murder and now this thing has been banned.”

He added that with the arrival of the Islamic Emirate, jirgas had increased and most people resolved their disputes through the forums.

Resolving disputes through jirgas has been a tradition in Afghanistan since ancient times, but this tradition has become even stronger with the advent of the Islamic Emirate.

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