Loya jirga

Hamid Karzai appointed as President of the Afghan Transitional Administration at the 13 July 2002 Loya Jirga held in Kabul, Afghanistan.

A loya jirga (Pashto: لويه جرګه, "grand assembly") is a special type of jirga that is mainly organized for choosing a new head of state in case of sudden death, adopting a new constitution, or to settle national or regional issue such as war.[1] It predates modern-day written or fixed-laws and is mostly favored by the Pashtun people but to a lesser extent by other nearby groups that have been influenced by Pashtuns (historically known as Afghans).

In Afghanistan, loya jirgas have been reportedly organized since at least the early 18th century when the Hotaki and Durrani dynasties rose to power.[2] In Pakistan, it is only at the regional level because the state is tightly controlled by non-Pashtun ethnic groups who are influenced by the British Raj, which ruled Pakistan for over 100 years.

History

The ancient Aryan tribes, who are hypothesized to have spoken Proto-Indo-Iranian, came down in intermittent waves from Central Asia and Afghanistan. They practiced a sort of jirga-system with two types of councils – simite and sabhā. The simite (the summit) comprised elders and tribal chiefs. The king also joined sessions of the simite. Sabhā was a sort of rural council.

It was used over time for the selection of rulers and headmen and the airing of matters of principle. From the time of the great Kushan ruler Kanishka to the 1970s, there were sixteen national loya jirgas and hundreds of smaller ones. The institution, which is centuries old, is a similar idea to the Islamic "shura", or consultative assembly.[1]

In the Afghan society, the loya jirga is still maintained and favored, mostly by tribal leaders to solve internal or external disputes with other tribes. In some cases it functions like a town hall meeting.

When the Afghans took power they tried to legitimize their hold with such a jirga. While in the beginning only Pashtuns were allowed to participate in the jirgas, later other ethnic groups like Tajiks and Hazaras were allowed to participate as well, however they were little more than observers. The member of the jirgas were mostly members of the Royal Family, religious leaders and tribal leaders of the Afghans. King Amanullah Khan institutionalized the jirga. From Amanullah until the reign of Mohammed Zahir Shah (1933–1973) and Mohammed Daoud Khan (1973–1978) the jirga was recognized as a common meeting of regional Pashtun leaders.

The meetings do not have scheduled occurrences, but rather are called for when issues or disputes arise. There is no time limit for a Loya Jirga to conclude, and the meetings often take time because decisions can only be made as a group and arguments can drag out for days. Various issues can be addressed such as major disaster, foreign policy, declaration of war, the legitimacy of leaders, and the introduction of new ideas and laws.

Afghanistan

Some of the historical loya jirgas in the history of Afghanistan are:

Pakistan

In April 2006, former Balochistan Chief Minister Taj Muhammad Jamali offered to arrange a meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and a loya jirga for peace in Balochistan.[10] A loya jirga was held at Kalat in September 2006 to announce that a case would be filed in the International Court of Justice regarding the sovereignty and rights of the Baloch people.[11][12][13][14]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Q&A: What is a loya jirga?". BBC News. July 1, 2002. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
  2. Jon Krakauer (September 11, 2009). "To Save Afghanistan, Look to Its Past". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-10-29.
  3. "Mirwais Neeka". Wolas.beepworld.de. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  4. Agha Amin, Resolving the Afghan-Pakistan Border Question, Journal of Afghanistan Studies, Kabul, (accessed December 12, 2009).
  5. "Musharraf, Karzai to lead Loya jirga" (PDF). Frontier Post. October 1, 2006.
  6. "Karzai To Unveil Afghan Cabinet In Days". Rferl.org. 2009-12-06. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  7. Afghan jirga seen as 'last hope' for peace
  8. Afghan jirga to call for peace with Taliban
  9. "Afghanistan Loya Jirga will determine whether US troops remain after 2014". The Guardian. Associated Press in Kabul. 19 October 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  10. "Leading News Resource of Pakistan". Daily Times. 2006-04-29. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  11. "Grand jirga in Kalat decides to move ICJ". The Dawn Edition. September 22, 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
  12. "Baloch chiefs to approach International Court of Justice" (PDF). India eNews. September 26, 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
  13. "Jirga rejects mega projects" (PDF). The Nation. October 3, 2006.
  14. Akbar, Malik Siraj (October 4, 2006). "Baloch jirga to form supreme council to implement decisions". Daily Times.

External links

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