Changing Conflict Resolution Mechanisms Among Pashtuns

Abstract

This study explores an ongoing change in Pashtun speaking society. This change is primarily concerned with the decision making process while settling down disputes that may arise due to many reasons. Disputes arise within a community and it is very normal. History of disputes is as old as man himself. Man has always found some ways to tackle the difference of opinion resulting in disputes and conflicts. The ways that man has found for solving disputes fall into two broad categories, one of which is the peaceful resolution of conflicts and the other is violent resolution of conflicts. Each of the mentioned ways has been tried in different times. The research is basically concerned with Pashtun speaking people. Pashtuns are mainly known for being very traditional in nature and are famous all over the world for following their customs and traditions. Jirga is one such old customary institution which is used by Pashtun community for solving out disputes among them. With the passage of time Pashtun people are shifting towards another way for solving out their disputes and that way is by following Alternate Dispute Resolution ADR. DRC is one such tool used under ADR in Pakistan and mainly in Pashtun belt of Pakistan. This research focuses on why people are moving away from the traditional and customary way Jirga. The research has used different tools for data collection that are face to face interviews, audio recording of the interviews, group discussions, key respondent interviews etc. The data collected through above mentioned methods came up with facts and figures worthy of mentioning. There is clear conflict between what the literature review has revealed and what actually is happening on surface level. The differences that where identified at the end of data analysis suggests that there is a misperception among people for understanding the behavior of Pashtun towards dispute solving have changed. Why have they changed is discussed in detail by the data that is gathered from the respondents.