Dialogue 4 Peacebuilding in AfPak

Dialogue 4 Peacebuilding has contributed to the successful resolution/transformation of conflicts - world wide such as Nepal, N-Ireland and many African & S-American countries very recently. However, in case of Af-Pak, the Western style Civil Society/NGOs have not earned legitimacy yet while the Ulama are party to the conflict. US/Af-Pak/India r also parties.

Now have we identified the root causes of conflict? Have we made any objective analysis? Howe we identified alternative solutions?   Have we identified parties to the conflict? Process? Mediators - who can mediate and how? DO these mediators are legitimate? Or are they spoilers? 

Can academia, think-tanks, UN, Media/Marketplace  play a role? Can "Track-II" diplomacy is a solution? Do we have any  such mechanism in place? 

If we don't create our stories of suffering and not propose solutions - over 50 million Pashtuns across the Durnad Line will continue to suffer.

Security Governance: Major Challenge for Pakistan's New PM Nawaz Sharif

June 12, 2013

Jahan Zeb

Pakistan’s newly elected prime minister, Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League, has a daunting task ahead of him to provide security for his country’s 187 million citizens.  Sharif has inherited the mushrooming Jihadist groups of the Punjab, Talibanization in North West Pakistan and Karachi, insurgency in Baluchistan, and deeply problematic security sector governance policies from previous governments. Read more...

A peaceful future for Pashtun children?

Krama Jehan Che Da Pukhtun Zalami, 

Da KhPalo PeGhlo HaoSalo Sara Zam (Hamza Baba)

For whom I make the world, a Pakhtun of age, 

With my youthful spirit, I go.

(Thanks to Ismail & Junaid bad for the translation)

The people of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are in the midst of a game of life and death. They challenge  patriotism and  torn apart friendships. They are ready  to make sacrifices at the cost of power and death make the nation alive. They are encountered with ruthless and brutal force of terror leaving them at immense crises of their times for over ten years. They need to be engaged in power sharing and decision making processes and be and encouraged to tell our story by identifying and analyzing the root causes  of war being played on their land and transform it to a peaceful and prosperous future of our people and nation.

Governance and Leadership Question in Pakhtunkhwa

 In my view, the previous PPP/ANP/MQM  govt  (2008-2013) along with the opposition of PMLN deserve appreciation for the following reasons.

• Greater decision-making authority has been assigned to provincial governments. The Eighteenth Constitutional Amendment has devolved a number of key functions to the provinces. In total, functions in seventeen federal ministries have been devolved, including Agriculture, Education, Environment, and Health. In addition a greater share of revenues has been passed to the Provinces through the National Finance Commission Award (NFC) in order to enable them to perform these functions.

•  As expected, the devolution had/has posed institutional and capacity challenges at the provincial level, and meeting these challenges had and  will require concerted efforts to enhance sub-national capacity and institutional development, which varies across provinces.

In Pakhtunkhwa the ANP  govt failed  because  they didn't hold local bodies elections and thus did not devolve  governance  to district levels.   On the party organizational and policy fronts, neither ANP energized the party with the Jazba of youth nor they bring comprehensive policies on economy, trade, foreign affairs, peace and conflict, just to name a few.  

I am saddened that ANP is/was punished heavily by both the state and the people alike (in May 11, 2013 elections). But I am  worried that the entire Pashtun Qaam will suffer because Pashtuns are not the primary constituents or a serious stakeholders in PMLN and PTI power play.  

What could be the next steps?

Pashto Classic Music

Click on the links

Da Swat  Pa Bahana - Haroon Bacha 

 Shamsul Qamar Andesh siab'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xffMynhc5ZMs Ghazal Haroon Bacha 

Aziz Manerwaal 

Nashanas

ځوانه دا څـوک ئې چې ګولـــۍ وروې

Ismail and Junaid

1.  PakHwa (Hamza Baba) 

2. Qarara Rasaha 

3. Ranra
   

Pyalai Naskaoarom de tashaoma kho de na Farhad Darya 

Ustad Yar Mohammad

1. Za yum nast zan la janan  

2. Wakht Ba Razi 

Hamayoon Khan

1. Zarh Mi Sa Da Gham Ketab Day

Peace & Conflict in Afghanistan & Pakistan - AfPak

Friends,

I plan to share factual information and perspectives on Conflict, Security and Peacebuilding on Afghanistan and Pakistan regularly. I hope to  bring  firsthand information by identifying, analyzing and evaluating the root causes of conflict and its multiple impacts.
               

AfPak
Most people living there today do not know, what is like to live in peace. They have suffered  directly from the multiple impacts of wars, and many more have suffered indirectly in form of bomb blasts, drones attacks,, displacement, disruption of communities.
Unfortunately, peace is not yet attained in Afghanistan though some of the indicators of peace and development such as: boys and girls  education, elected Parliament and the Afghan the security sector [National Army and Afghan National Police ]  are signs of improvement.  The 2014 will be a litmus test for both the Afghans and the US lead NATO how to keep their power via-a-vis Taliban.
Pakistan, the world's second-most-populous multiethnic, Muslim-majority, fragile country, with over 184 million inhabitants continues to struggle against a high poverty rate,  violence, terror and insecurity.  Pakistan's problems are exacerbated both by military and civilian governments alike. The security and civilian establishment has systemically converted Pakistan into a national security state vis-a-vis its founders'  vision of a social welfare Islamic state. Pakistan's security establishment with an army of one million men consists of an army of 600,000 men, armed with nearly one hundred nuclear weapons, consumes 30 percent of the total budget of  Rs. 2,960 billion [30.1 US$ approximately].  (Rashid, 2012, p. 24-25). The army is obsessed with India-centric enmity and has made Pakistan an "abnormal state that uses jihadi groups and non-state actors  in addition to diplomacy to pursue  its defence and foreign policies (Rashid, 2012, p. 27)".
I hope to closely monitor how the new parliament  dominated by the center-right Pakistan Muslim League led by Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf  (Justice party) led by cricketer turned politician Imran Khan deal with the fragile peace, security and shabby economy of Pakistan (both parties came into power as a result of  11 May 2013 elections).

Afghanistan

Pakistan

New Government in Pakistan

Your inputs and suggestions are highly welcomed.  It will enable me to improve my work and provide you the information the way you want to be presented.  Together, we build trusted relationship for building peace in our global community. 

Peace,

Jahan Zeb

Candidate for the Master of Peace & Conflict Studies (2013)

University of Waterloo’s Conrad Grebel University College

Twitter: @jahanzebca

jahanzebca@gmail.com