Source: Mohammad Enam Wak
WAK Foundation
Email: abdaliwak[at]yahoo.com

Mohammad Enam Wak is the author of the "History of Pashto" section. Hence all credit goes to him and if you have any question he will be pleased to answer them through his email.
 

جرګه JIRGA

A meeting of a group of tribal men that has the authority to settle a dispute acceptable to all sides. In common usage any meeting convened to investigate and settle tribal matter is called jirga. Inthis sence of the term Jirga and Maraka are synonmys. In the specific sense of the term, Jirga is larger meeting in which the Masharan (elders of the Khels) take part to investigate and settled the important tribal problems. The Mullahs, spin patkeyan and narkheyan participate in the jiraga and pray for it's succes. Besides them the common people can sit near the Jirga to listen to the discussions. Every member of the jirga is called a spingherai (white bearded, meaning an elder). There is no chairman among the Jirga members. All members of the Jirga are equal. JIrga is convened mostly in Ziarats in the open space.

The jirga memebers sit in a circle so that on one shall be considered privileged or powerfull. Sometimes when it is necessary, the jirga maybe convened in secret one which occasion no outsider may sit near the jirgaand it someone does, he will be heavily punished. The punishment ranges from shaving his mustache and beard, to setting his house no fire, and even exection. When the Jirga is sitting no body shall interrupt its business or try to disrupt it. Anyone hindering the Jirga wokr is penalized according to the rules of Jirga. When one side or girga feels that the verdict of the Jirga is going contrary to its interst, the members concerned will express their dissatisfcation, hitting two stones with another audibly. This act is considered disruptive to the irga work. On every historic cooasion Jirga is convened and the decision is binding on all. Jirga is convened to reconcile the enemical tribes or to bring about an agreement among the various trbes concerning a decision on some important problem of the day.

the diference between maraka and Jirga is that maraka is to investigate and settle problems of small importance while Jirga considers to settle the problems of greater importance. The members of Maraka are usually plarina of one khel while those of Jirga are of different khels. The memebers of Maraka are elders of different plarina of one khel. The Jirga is binding on everybody and non-compliane is punished heavily lie setting on fire the culpirt's house.

When decision is reached, the members of the Jirga will swear either on malga (salt) or tura (sword) or the Holly Quran. The cermony is to put hands on the things mentioned and pledge to carry out the decision faithfully.

Every tribe has a meeting place for the Jirga which is considered sacred and flaga fly over in in some places. The seating place of the Jirga is always an open space so that those who like to watch the open meetings of the Jirga can sit around provided the Jorga proceedings are not secret.

jirga is the most democratic and intresing Institution of the Pathan's way of life. Right from the Mughal times todate. every administration in a tribal area, had relied upon Jirgas. It exercises executive, judicial and elgislative functions and yet acts for arbitration or conciliation. Practically all coounity business, both public and privete is subject to the jurisdicition of the Jirga. The word can be applied to half a dozen men sitting down together to discuss what they should say to the political Agent who would have objected to their sons shooting off a WAPDA line, to release a detenu imprisoned on account of forced recovery of his laon on the main road, or to reconsider what the political authorities have already considered appropriate about an action.

There is seldom any formal selection of representives. The qualification for memebership is simple. A person should simply be of sound mind and be a Motabar. There are no restrictions on acount of age, academic qualifications or knowledge of law. Among some tribes, virtually every adult male may entitled to participate. There is no making of motions, and no voting. Decisions are unanimous and are arrived at by taking the sense of meeting. Since the tribesmen do not lay aside arms while deliberting, punishment can be executed poomptly.

Apart from enforcing its own penalty for eontempt, there is little of the judicial or police function in the Jirga role in the community. It does not ordinarily determine guilt or inflict punishment but seeks to achieve a settlment. Both plaintiff and defendat appear before it as equal. If it cannot get them to agree to a settlement, say the acceptance of blood-money in lieu of revenge for a death, it merely defines the rights of the parties conerned in accordance with established Pathan traditions.

The Jirga members appointed by the Political authorities deliberate over the issues framed by the APA who ex-officeio acts as Additional Sessions Judge and arrives at a conclusion after hearing the parties, They may even administer oath to the party agreeing to it. The verdict arrived at is referred to the APA, who, if he does not see eye to eye with the ward, remands the case to the jirga for reconsideration.

The award is then announced by the APA. Cases which are tried by the sessions judge in the settled districts are likewise tried by the Political Agent in the Agency. These jirgas are mandatorily held under FCR (frontier Crimes Regulation) and no members, whose clan the accused belongs to, is nominated. The jirga is essentially a round table confrence with no chairman or presiding officer.

In a representive jirga, each khel, tapa, kundi and tribe is represented and voiced. Members are given choice to nominate any one not belonging to his clan. They are chosen on the strength of age, shrewdness, wisdom and sagacity.

The above disscustion shows that the jirga, as it operates today, has 3 main functions in a tribal area. Firstly it regulates life at all levels within a tribal society and the points covered are of the nature of civil and criminal both. The most common jirgas are held over murder and money claims and decisions to take up arms against the neighbouring tribes. Secondly, the jirga provides a mechanism by which the decisions are poinions of the tribe are communicated to the goverment and vice versa. Thirdly, the so called official jirga (i. e composed of men appointed by the political authorities only) acts as an advisory jury to the political officer trying crimes under FCR. All disputes are decited by the verdict of the jirga under customary law whcih the parties are bound to accept. Goverment however exercises control over the tribes by operating FCR not challengeable in any court of law. Any infraction or transgression from the verdict of the jirga leads to serious penalties on the violator, including a heavy fne, burning of house and other penalties according to circumstances