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The challenges of to nation building in Afghanistan continues ....
State and the Society
As discussed earlier in this chapter, every Afghan links himself to a line of ancestors traced back through his father.
He is conscious of belonging to a larger entity which takes the form of more or less endogenous community or solidarity group (the qawm), whether its sociological base is the tribe, clan, professional group (qawm of the mullah or barbers), caste (bari of Nuristani), religious group (Sayyad), ethnic group (Munjani), village community or simply an extended family. While the state claims authority over society within a territory, a tribe claims jurisdiction over a set of persons bound by kinship relations. Qawm identity is usually fluid and depends on what level or form of identity is relevant to a particular setting.
Olivier Roy in his brilliant analysis of the relationship between the state and society in Afghanistan observes that these tribes see the state as existing on the periphery, responsible for administering land
whose boundaries are constantly fluctuating on account of conquests
carried out by the tribal confederation, in respect of which the state is no more than means of continuity. As far as their territory is concerned, the presence of the state would seem redundant and totally unnecessary.
Aspirants to power have relied on the support from these groups and at
other times established rulers cultivated the tribes as sources of revenue, military levies and agricultural produce. But tribes have also been feared as disruptive elements, prone to raiding non-tribal society and armed opposition to the government. Strong leaders have controlled tribes by nominating leaders, keeping chiefly members as hostages, establishing marriage alliances between chiefly and royal families, executing dissidents kr fostering dissension between rivals for leadership or between neighbouring tribes. The state has used three modes of persuasion in order to gain legitimacy: tribalism, Islam and nationalism
To be continued...