Shadman Bashir is from a city named Bannu — a city that he said seemed safe once. Now an Idaho resident, Bashir left his parents and nearly 300 cousins and distant family members behind. The last time he returned to Pakistan in 2009, he said bombs went off every Thursday or Friday and he saw two suicide attacks explode in front of him.
Bannu is east of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) that separate Afghan and Pakistani soil. During the British colonial period, Bashir said the predominantly Muslim Pashtun tribe was split in two.
“It is a border in law, but not a border in fact,” Bashir said.
Bashir came to Moscow as part of the 2012 Martin Forum, coordinated by Associate Director of the Martin Institute Kodjotse “Ro” Afatchao. He also visited University of Idaho freshmen international studies classes, spoke to the senior class of Garfield Palouse high school and dined with UI international studies students at The Pantry in University Inn Best Western.
Bill Smith, director of the Martin School of International Studies, said the U.S. misunderstands the cultures apparent in the Pakistan and Afghanistan borders.
“We look at people’s primary affiliation as being Muslim,” he said. “And that’s true on one level but there’s so many … tribal affiliations and language differences. It’s a really complex group.”
Smith said he thought Bashir was a good choice for the Martin Forum because of Bashir’s experience at Brigham Young University, as a research adviser to the International Center for Law and Religion Studies for the J. Ruben Clark Law School and as a consultant on the Woman States Project.
Bashir said the Durand Line, which marks the border of FATA, served as a scapegoat during conflicts such as the Cold War.
“Pakistan said (FATA) was not part of proper Pakistan,” he said. “Even though tribal members had equal representation … FATA was kept as a buffer zone for different ends.”
Tribal members established their own laws and police forces after the Cold War and the area was left on its own. But the tribe had been trained to fight infidels.
“We’ve never been conquered,” Bashir said. “We don’t like to fight … but we fight until the end.”
Bashir said Pakistani culture seeks revenge when it comes to murder and war.
“(For example) it is my honor to take revenge on a killer of my brother,” Bashir said. “… But if the murderer asks for forgiveness it is more honorable for me to protect (the murderer).”
Bashir said another mindset in Pakistan is the division of religious leaders and “criminals.” He said if the common man doesn’t agree one way or the other, he is either a killer or a sinner.
Bashir said cultural misunderstandings by the U.S. have led to more hurt than help during the last decade.
The Pashtun tribe tried to have a “friendly government” and did not want “unfriendly neighbors” in Afghanistan, he said, so Pakistan did not create the Taliban, but encouraged them. As al-Qaeda and the Taliban made their way across the border to Pakistan, Bashir said history changed.
Pakistan welcomed the U.S. in order to assist combating al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
“Only once in the period of this region have people welcomed others into this region,” Bashir said.
Al-Qaeda started eliminating tribal elders to “create a vaccum” and Bashir said al-Qaeda supported lesser-known tribal members who were given guns, money and the authority to lead a group, something they had never been offered before.
Bashir said the tribes were in a fragile state and formed the Pakistan Taliban in an attempt to remove present government. He said the Pakistan army had no choice.
Instead of separating the Taliban and al-Qaeda, Bashir said the U.S. helped combine the two.
He said unlike the Cold War, during which the more Russians were killed, the sooner they left, the revengeful culture of Pakistan led to more Pakistanis wanting to kill, as more Pakistanis were killed.
Suicide bombers sprouted. Mosques and schools were bombed too. The U.S. began drone attacks — unmanned aerial vehicles — in an attempt to block the Taliban. The amount of suicide bombers grew and the Taliban introduced the concept that murder was acceptable and a heaven full of virgins was waiting.
“(The mindset of a suicide bomber is) everybody goes to heaven,” Bashir said. “(They think) ‘I’m doing you a favor by killing you.'”
Bashir said one day the U.S. was done. They decided to focus on Iraq.
“The U.S. did not help create even minimal sustainability,” Bashir said. “We didn’t need much money to run a system (in that region).”
Of the $67 billion for war funds, Bashir said only $4.5 billion remained for infrastructure help.
“Only a fraction goes to infrastructure,” said international studies major, Ali Nuckles after dining with Bashir. “More goes to administrative costs.”
Nuckles said Bashir gave examples of how U.S. funds could be better spent, in ways such as electricity and energy support.
Bashir said Pakistan experiences blackouts nearly 15 hours a day and industries cannot work without power.
According to the United Nations Development Program, more than 60 percent of the population is under the age of 25 and Bashir said most of them are jobless.
Despite the need for Pakistani debt assistance, Obama’s plan calls for an end to U.S. funding and all war efforts by 2014.
“If it took 30 years to mess up, it won’t take one year to fix,” Bashir said.
He said Pakistan people might be able to mend border relations though, if they mutually understand that revenge will not be taken any longer.
“(And that) Americans are honest when they say they’re going to help,” Bashir said after his speech.
And as for the U.S., Bashir said just because Pakistan’s culture is different doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
“If the U.S. can’t understand the problem, there will be no solution,” he said. “The fear (for Pakistan) was that this was a war against Islam — it’s not.”