Tribalism is closely related to our existence and being...

Dear Rob,
Talking about the essence of tribal community is an interesting issue. Perhaps the impression about that is not the same between an Afghan and an American. You are talking about tribalism as an outsider matter, but we are talking about that as something closely related to our existence and being. You can only debate on tribalism, but we are breathing that and we have to balance all parts of our life with that.
The image of tribalism is the main characteristic of the Afghan community. All it suffers and does, is deeply related to its tribal vision, traditions, custom, and overall culture. Religion is also a tribal one, here. Culture is the core of existence of communities. People look at everything through their cultural eyes. They interpret and contemplate everything mixed with their cultural feelings. The degree of being more or less tribal is the only difference between different ethnic communities here.
The problem of the Pashtun community seems a bit more. They have ruled a tribal system of political power for more than two and a half centuries. Now they have to preserve that power too, based on tribal ethnocentric assumptions. You can look at the Hazaras, as a comparative example: they have suffered from brutalities of the despotic anti-democratic governments. Now getting rid of this system is an opportunity for the Hazaras. Hence, they easily find it convenient to support democratic process, secular types of systems, civil society, human rights and other civil norms of life. This is for their own benefit. With such a choice, they not only lose nothing, but can gain a lot. You can find it as a catalyzer variable in the tribal institutions of the Hazara community.
However, it doesn’t mean that the Hazaras are not enjoying tribalism. They have only the chance of stepping ahead of it; while this is a bit more problematic for the Pashtuns.
The discourse on religious issues is also viewed from this perspective. Pashtuns feel that only rigid interpretations of Islam can help them preserve their existing/historical privileges, while the Hazaras find it more affordable to cross fanatical religious views to reach a better standard of life. You can find a very interesting division inside the Shiite community the majority of which is the Hazaras. The non-Hazara clergies are the forerunners to preserve old traditional religious rites and rituals, while most of the Hazara clergies prefer to support changes and reforms in their religious viewpoints and behaviors. The reason is that the power and influence of the non-Hazara clergies can continue only through traditional religious views, while the Hazara clergies think that traditional religious interpretation would push them back to the past.
Looking forward to getting your views before stepping further…
Aziz Royesh
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