Pashtunwali is a way of life the Pushtan tribes have lived for 2000 years.
Pashtunwali is a cultural code of behaviour. Or Tribal law? Set of Morals? Codes of Conduct?
One of the Pashtunwali codes of conduct is hospitality. Not in the Western sense. Pashtunwali gives the guest the host”s protection. They cannot be harmed or surrendered to an enemy. This hospitality requires no favours in return.
This code of behaviour literally saved Mark Luttrell‘s life. He was a Navy Seal dropped into Afghanistan to kill a group of terrorists. Operation Red Wings was a plan to stop terrorists from destabilising the area coming up to local elections. Things went badly wrong and his team was killed but he survived. He was protected by Afghan villagers who hid him away from the terrorists trying to kill the Navy Seals.
In the mire of politics it is hard to tell right from wrong. The soldiers shouldn’t have been there in the first place? Was there intent honourable to protect the local elections? Was this a forcing of democracy onto a country unprepared and unwilling to be democratic?
But Pashtunwali is a version of living that is old and complex to rival Democracy.
Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2016
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Disclaimer:This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only.
This article is designed to provoke argument and critique