responding to disputes and conflicts kp and punjab · responding to disputes and conflicts kp and...
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AAWAZ Response Fund 1
Responding To Disputes and Conflicts
KP and Punjab
INSAN FOUNDATION TRUST
May 2013
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Foreword
The objective of this study on “Responding Disputes and Conflicts” is to analyze the
dynamics of conflicts and disputes in two major provinces of Pakistan--Khyber
Pakhtunkhawa and Punjab. It aims to enable development organizations and practitioners of
development to fine tune strategies and programs relating to dispute and conflict resolution
with the purpose of building capacity for social cohesion and peace building. There have
been many studies and reports on this subject that may provide us a base to understand the
conflict phenomena in Pakistan. Since conflict is a dynamic process, it requires fresh efforts,
new tools and broader scope of learning. Our hope is that this study will open up new venues
for further research that interested individuals, organizations and academic institutions, may
undertake.
The subject of Peace and Conflict Resolution is one of the core interests of the Insan
Foundation Trust for the reason Pakistan is embroiled in multiple conflicts that threaten its
survival and stability. Its development, prosperity and peace heavily depends on best it would
be able to resolve conflicts. And when we talk about stability and development of a country,
it is not about territorial integrity, it is more than that. We refer to people, especially the
downtrodden and underprivileged sections of the society that constitute a large portion of the
population of Pakistan. If the lives and interests of such vast numbers are at stake due to
conflicts, then stability and peace must be the central objective of the state and society. This
is why one of the AAWAZ program’s commitments are to engage citizens in the process of
peace building and dispute and conflict resolution over a broader spectrum from within their
households to the lager communities.
Insan Foundation Trust is thankful to the SDPI for entrusting it with the task of this study. It
was not an easy assignment given the shorter timeframe we had for this effort, but this is not
an excuse for any lapses or weaknesses. At the IFT, we take full responsibility for what we
have produced. We are open to suggestion to improve our proposal and will welcome any
comments in this respect.
Kishwar Sultana, Director IFT
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ACRONYMS
AF Aurat Foundation
CDC Cholistan Development Council
CPLC Citizen Police Liaison Committee
D.I. Khan Dera Ismail Khan
DSP District Superintendent Police
EDO Executive District Officer
FDGs Focus Group Discussions
IFT Insan Foundation Trust
KIIs Key Informants Interviews
KP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
LGO Local Government Ordinance
NGO Non Governmental Organizations
SAP-PK South Asia Partnership-Pakistan
SDPI Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI)
SPO Strengthening Participatory Organization
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Contents Foreword ................................................................................................................................................. 2
ACRONYMS ......................................................................................................................................... 3
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 5
2 AAWAZ PROGRAM AND THE CONFILCT IMPERATIVE ........................................................................ 10
3 Resume of the Study .......................................................................................................................... 12
4 Anatomy ............................................................................................................................................. 16
4.1 Context ........................................................................................................................................ 16
5 Disputes and Conflicts and their Impact ............................................................................................ 21
5.1 Types of Disputes and Conflicts and Frequency of Occurrence.................................................. 22
5.2 Impact of Disputes and Conflicts ................................................................................................ 25
6 Existing Practices ................................................................................................................................ 30
6.1 Early Warning Indicators ............................................................................................................. 31
6.2 Experience of Pre-empting Disputes and Conflicts ..................................................................... 34
6.3 Response of Males and Females on Conflicts and Disputes ....................................................... 34
6.4 Legal Awareness on Family Laws and Sources of Awareness about Property Related Laws ..... 35
6.5 Existing Practices of Resolving Disputes and Conflicts ............................................................... 40
6.6 Local Mechanisms for Resolving Disputes and Conflicts ............................................................ 41
6.7 Traders’ Response on Philanthropy and Practices for Communal Harmony .............................. 43
6.8 Organizations and/or Programmes on Dispute/Conflict Resolution .......................................... 44
7 Women, Youths and Minorities in Dispute and Conflict Resolution ............................................. 47
8 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................. 53
9 Annexes .............................................................................................................................................. 56
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Executive Summary
The study, “Responding Disputes and Conflicts” was commissioned to Insan Foundation
Trust (IFT) under the Project Advocacy, Research and Results (PARR), which is a
component of the AAWAZ programme. This component is designed for policy research,
advocacy, monitoring, evaluation and projecting the AAWAZ results.
This study has the following objectives:
Map nature of different local, sub-national and provincial conflicts in Punjab and
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and assess their impact on women, children, ethnic and
religious minorities, and other marginalized groups
Develop a wide range of interventions in the areas of capacity development, advocacy
and lobbying for Aawaz in future
This study has been conducted for AAWAZ towards the end of the nine months’ inception
phase, ending in February, 2013. Full-scale implementation covers 45 districts. The basic
objective is to inform AAWAZ direction in the next four years and three months. In doing
this study the IFT has employed different methods, including surveys, Key Informant
Interviews (KII), focus group discussion (FGD) and secondary data review.
IFT conducted survey with 120 males and females in six villages/neighbour-
hoods/settlements of six districts—three in KP and three in Punjab. The organization
conducted FGDs with 12 different groups of males and females at the district level. The
organization also conducted KIIs with 18 individuals/retired/ in-service officials separately.
These included the ones from i) district administration ii) journalism and iii) retired civil
judges/lawyers fraternity and iv) traders associations.
The key findings and recommendations of the study are as following:
Family/Clan and Land/Money disputes and conflicts are the most dominant types in
KP and Punjab. The reasons commonly cited are joint family system, refusal to pay
maintenance cost, denial of right to inheritance, custody of the children, recovery of
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dowry/dower, watta satta (exchange marriages), forced marriages and divorce/Khula
cases.
The participants of FDGs agreed on inclusion of women in Jirgas and Panchayats
which are held on issues/disputes/conflicts concerning them only. But beyond that, as
a general practice, they did not see their role. Similarly, they also did not see religious
minorities as equal stakeholders. This raises a great challenge for the civil society
organizations to work on social inclusion, peace building, harmony and conflict and
dispute resolution.
Regarding familial/clannish disputes and conflicts, the ones related to matrimony,
children’s custody, inheritance, etc. are common. Therefore raising awareness,
undertaking training and advocacy programmes with stakeholders on family laws and
property related laws we deem very necessary for the AAWAZ programme.
The frequency of disputes and conflicts has increased in the communities where we
have done this research as compared to their rate in the past. This point came out
clearly during our discussion and interviews with the respondents. Very few of the
respondents think the frequency of disputes and conflicts have decreased. In view of
this case, it is imperative that comprehensive ‘mapping’ and ‘prioritization’ of
disputes and conflicts is undertaken in 5,000 villages/neighbor-hoods/settlements
during the initial mobilization and community organization phase. This will inform
the teams to develop specific awareness and training programs to deal with different
types and categories of disputes and conflicts.
The communities understand to some extent that conflicts and disputes impact women
and children negatively. Males however don’t see women as equal stakeholder in
disputes and conflict resolution mechanisms and processes. Women are impacted
differently and more negatively, including girls early childhood marriages and
discontinuation of their education. AAWAZ therefore has a challenge to make women
as equal partners in the peace building and conflict resolution and also to address the
impacts, such as, early childhood marriages and discontinuation of young girls’
education.
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Women suffer immensely if male members of her family are jailed or involved in a
dispute. She becomes economically and socially vulnerable. She has to visit police
stations, meet strange people and her honor and dignity is compromised in
conventional terms. Religious minorities are living in our community peacefully. But
majority Muslim communities discriminate against them on the basis of religion
(FGD, Males, Chakwal, Punjab).
Women suffer in every respect, especially economically. Males waste money in
litigation and women are left to bear the consequences at the household level. It
becomes a matter of disrespect if a girl of any community marries a man of her choice
or elopes with him because then every member starts criticizing women of the
household. It impacts girls’ studies because some families force them to stop formal
education (FGD, Females, Chakwal, Punjab).
There is growing religious intolerance in Sargodha. There have been many incidents
of disputes and conflicts between Muslims and Non-Muslims and among different
religious sects. We haven’t seen any soft corner, in the hearts of religious clergy, for
the religious minority groups, especially the Ahmedis. Religious minority students
also face hate speech, even when some incidents which ignite provocation among
Muslims take place elsewhere in remote places and countries. There have also been
incidents of some youths singing loudly close to the prayer buildings/churches in
order to instigate them. Girls are married at their early age (FGD, Males, Sargodha,
Punjab).
Women are used as a tool to settle dispute. Girls are married at an early age in order
to avoid risks of their being targeted by something ‘totally unacceptable’ and in
conflict with local social norms and standards of personal conduct (FGD, Females,
Sargodha, Punjab).
Women’s lives are often ruined by disputes and conflicts. They are used to settle
disputes and family differences. Many girls are married off at a tender age. Women
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face difficulty in managing their households under psychological stress. (FGD, Males,
Bahawalpur, Punjab).
Women are severely disturbed. They take out their frustration on their children by
punishing them even for very minor mistakes. The family becomes poorer and the
impact is doubled on women because they become the target of anger from their
husbands, brothers and fathers. Their mobility is restrained (FGD, Females,
Bahawalpur, Punjab).
Women suffer economically. Children also bear the brunt. Sometimes women, who
lose the economic and social protection of male members, have to resort to
prostitution to help the family with children through their own hardships (FGD, Male,
Charsadda, KP).
Children quit education in volatile family situations. Families and neighbors don’t let
their children meet with the families who are involved in disputes and conflicts.
Women have to quit jobs, if they have any outside the home. Some women become
psychologically ill and under stress (FGD, Females, Charsadda, KP).
Communities also don’t see religious and ethnic minorities as important stakeholders
(decision makers) in overall local dispute or with conflict resolution mechanisms.
AAWAZ therefore has to design its intervention carefully so that the existing bias
does not impact the program and incremental progress is made for their inclusion.
Level of intolerance towards religious and ethnic minorities has increased in the
recent past. Interfaith dialogues, discussions and forums at the community level are
therefore important for better understanding and harmony among different faiths.
Traders consider terrorism to be the biggest threat to their businesses. However, they
don’t give charity with a considered view that their money will be used for peace
building and interfaith harmony. It means that there is a strong likelihood of their
money going to organizations that support and promote conflicts, and even terrorism.
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AAWAZ must mobilize the huge potential of the local traders associations for peace
building and social tolerance.
Communities have indigenous methods of early warning indicators that inform them
about the likelihood of the occurrence of disputes and conflicts. But the indicators are
inadequate and there is a lot of space for capacity development of both males and
females in order to prevent/preempt disputes and conflicts. AAWAZ may develop a
repository of early warning indicators that will help the 5,000
villages/neighborhoods/settlements and may use that resource even for advanced level
trainings at the national level. This may also inform the local/district administration’s
program and actions because they don’t have any coherent system in place.
There is no system in place that sensitizes women about Nikkah (wedlock),
inheritance, divorce, maintenance, children’s custody and property/land related issues
and mechanisms. Women have somewhat adequate knowledge about their right to
children’s custody but they don’t have knowledge about the mechanisms and
procedures related to Nikkah, inheritance, divorce, maintenance, land/property, etc.
On the contrary, men have more knowledge about Nikkah, inheritance, divorce and
land/property issues. AAWAZ needs to address this area through general awareness
program to create a first level of deterrence against conflicts/disputes.
The study identifies the need to conduct trainings with communities on conflict and
dispute resolution and mediation tools and techniques. We think there is a demand
and a need felt by the district administration, lawyers and retired district and session
judges for such skills.
Communities deal with clannish disputes and conflicts through family intervention.
They do resort to third-party intervention (Panchayat/Jirga) too, but that is the second
option when they have exhausted the family channels. Therefore, training of dispute
and conflict resolution (with women’s participation as decision makers) at the grass
roots level will prevent conflicts and disputes at the primary levels, the family and
clan. It will also help them even resolve disputes and conflicts successfully.
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Lawyers’ community needs to acquire training on mediation. This training will
develop a second tier of successful conflict resolution.
People at the district level have some understanding about the work of NGOs, but the
challenge is whether adequate information about program reaches the village,
settlement or neighborhood, especially women who are minimally literate or illiterate.
The FGD at Chakwal put forth a very interesting finding. Chakwal is not an AAWAZ
program district (at least till the time when this study was conducted). In the FGD,
women stressed the need for their inclusion in conflict and dispute resolution
bodies/organizations because they felt that they have strengths and local knowledge
and can make a positive contribution.
The details about the above stated findings and recommendations are given in the following
chapters.
2 AAWAZ PROGRAM AND THE CONFILCT IMPERATIVE
AAWAZ program has three objectives, i) women’s safe participation in political processes
and public spaces, ii) enabling the communities to pre-empt and resolve disputes and
conflicts, consciously including, marginal groups in decision making, and iii) access to
services and transparency and accountability of the services, especially of health and
education.
In Pakistan, we have many disputes and conflicts, like other traditional, agrarian societies.
But the important elements which make our case worse is that we have inadequate systems to
take pre-emptive measures. Equally important is the point that we have inefficient systems
and procedures to resolve them. Our society lacks tolerance and there are no capacities within
the communities to negotiate issues peacefully so that disputes don’t escalate. Problems are
further compounded by the prevalence of local attitudes which deny women their legitimate
rights, and treat religious minorities with a jaundiced eye. Therefore, while disputes and
conflicts are inescapable, our local disputes rapidly deteriorate into violence. Thus, it is a
challenge to enhance peoples’ level of tolerance, enable them to handle disputes and conflicts
so that threats are turned into opportunities, and motivate them to include marginal groups in
dispute and conflict resolution. It is also a daunting task to rebuild the formal dispute
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resolution mechanisms so that the people use them since they don’t do so at present because
of constraints.
We need to realize that conflict resolution does not work in a vacuum. In a society where
family, caste, political and tribal affiliations serve as a bonding among members of a family,
political party and/or community at large, the same affiliations also trigger disputes and
conflicts, given the fact that they have different interests and are prone to threats and generate
mutual fears. So, we have to understand the dynamics of these threats and fears so that we
may develop corresponding strategies to address them. Besides this, we also need to be
mindful of the history of disenfranchisement, corruption, poverty and underdevelopment,
which facilitate conditions of lawlessness, insecurity, extremism and conflict. The consequent
vacuum of formal mechanisms of conflict resolution gives space to different power groups to
fill in and reinforce the status quo. This is where engagement with law enforcing agencies
appears to be a must.
The local power groups sometimes appropriate the role of the conflict resolution
mechanisms. They are easy to access, less costly and efficient in delivery of justice. Local
power groups initiated and controlled mechanisms which are power-centered in their
approach. They are also masculine in their narrative. This is why instead of providing justice
in accordance with the spirit of the law and constitution, they are often found involved in
abusing power, especially by targeting women and religious and ethnic minorities, with their
conservative views and decisions. But the fact is that we cannot totally avoid dealing with
such power groups while working on conflict resolution. The trick is not to let them feel
threatened so that safety of the social activists is not compromised while at the same time we
circumvent them. AAWAZ program realizes this and has taken up a participatory, bottom-up
approach. The program is rightly based on the premise that people are the best resources for
building and sustaining peace. This approach enables communities to resolve disputes and
conflicts peacefully, to develop trust, safety, and social cohesion within and between
communities, and to promote inter-ethnic and inter-group dialogue. This strategy is very
likely to circumvent the existing power-oriented conventional structures of delivery of
justice. But here caution is vital in relying on local capacities for peaceful conflict resolution
since we do not want to re-construct the same power cults that we plan to avoid both in the
interest of the marginal and the judicial system (which is over-burdened).
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This study, “Responding to Disputes and Conflicts” brings before us many other sides of the
debate on dispute and conflict resolution in Pakistan. Each area, taken up in the study, is a
policy and/or strategy direction for the AAWAZ team.
3 Resume of the Study
IFT used different tools and methods for this research, including Survey, Key Informant
Interviews and Focus Group Discussions in addition to the secondary review of available
resources (Annex 1).
IFT has conducted this study in different villages, neighborhoods, settlements of district
Sargodha, Bahawalpur, Chakwal (in Punjab), Abbotabad, Charsadda and D.I. Khan (in
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). The AAWAZ program is being implemented in the inception phase in
the same districts, except district Chakwal.
The six districts mentioned were selected on the basis of i) assessments conducted by
Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), ii) the fact that pre-requisite support at the
field level was easily available to IFT (given the time constraints) and iii) that these districts
presented a fairly broader scale of conflicts and disputes from the inter-personal to the
communal.
Director IFT, after signing of the contract, conducted an orientation, as lead researcher, with
the research team of four members (2 females and 2 males). The orientation was on i)
research objectives, ii) methodology, iii) broader contours of the content and possible tools
iv)the time-table of surveys and other instruments. This orientation informed the development
of tools for survey, KIIs and FDGs, and some resources for secondary data review exercise.
The lead researcher then shared the tools with SDPI, discussed feedback with the team and
amended the instruments accordingly. Originally, there was a meeting planned for this
purpose but the time due to time constraints, IFT relied on email communication with the
Deputy Director SDPI regarding feedback.
Once tools were finalized, IFT got them translated to make field application easy.
Simultaneously, the lead researcher conducted another round of orientation with the research
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team at the IFT’s office for further clarity and sharing of notes on field application and
validation processes.
IFT conducted surveys with 60 male and 60 female respondents, in six villages, one village in
each district. These villages, neighborhoods and settlements were as follows:
District Village/Neighbourhood/Settlement
Charsadda Utmanzai
D.I. Khan Kokar
Abbottabad Chathari
Bahawalpur Model Town (in an event where members of different communities1 had
gathered)
Chakwal Mehro Peelo
Sargodha Chak no 79 North
The villages, neighborhoods and settlements were selected in view of the general perception
of the civil society organizations working in the target districts about the level of deprivation
and frequency of disputes and conflicts.
There were 12 focus group discussions held in this study. There were 20 to 30 members in
each FGD. Half of the FDGs were held in KP whereas the rest were held in Punjab. The
purpose of selection of this method was to understand the overall point of view of different
stakeholders on the same areas as mostly taken up in the survey to have a local as well as a
district level picture.
The participants of each FDG were convened, at the district level, from different villages,
neighborhoods and settlements, using local contacts. Six FDGs were held with females, five
with males and one with males and females jointly. The purpose of the gender-disaggregated
exercise was to get an understanding of how women and men view disputes and conflicts to
help design gender sensitive combat-strategies.
1 i) Basti Derawar, ii) Qila Derawar, iii) Chak 80 DB, iv) Goth Mehrab, v) Chak 77DB, vi) 3 Marla Scheme, vii) Kho Kubbi
Wala, viii) Chak 80 DB, ix) 3 Marla Scheme, x) Basti Mittu, xi) Basti Mehran, xii) Chak 56DB, xiv) Chak 101 DB, xv) Mangowal Basti, xvi) Basti Khanka Shareef
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In addition to FGDs, IFT also conducted 18 KIIs, with i) District Administration ii) Local
Senior Journalist and iii) Retired Civil Judges/Lawyers and iv) Traders Association
Representatives, in the targeted districts. The KII were conducted at the district level, to cross
analyze the findings of the survey.
IFT also developed three brief case-studies in line with the objectives of the study. The case-
studies aimed to briefly illustrate impact of conflicts and disputes on women and children.
Once data was collected, IFT switched the teams to validate it. For the validation purposes,
IFT picked 30 survey forms (five from each village) and 6 KIIs (1 from each district)
randomly and contacted the respondents through visits and, in some cases, by telephone.
There was hardly any discrepancy found in the data collected by the survey teams.
Data tabulation began after the validation process ended in the fourth week of the study. This
was followed by analysis and development of the first draft of the report.
The overall schedule of implementation is as following:
# Activity/Tool Timeline Stakeholders Group
1 Research Team’s
Orientation
1st Week
2 Secondary Resource
Review2 and Aawaz
Project Proposal Review
1st Week
3 Development of
Questionnaire for Survey
1st Week
4 Development of
Questionnaire for FDGs
1st Week
5 Development of
Questionnaire for KIIs
1st Week
6 Meeting with Aawaz MO
and Finalization of the
2nd
Week
2 Human Rights and women’s Rights’ Reports and Researches, and Security & Safety Related Websites
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Tools
7 Orientation of the Field
teams on Tools
2nd
Week
8 Development of Field
Calendar
1st and 2
nd
Week
9 Field Survey 2nd
and 3rd
Week
60 men and 60 women (between
25 and 60 years)
10 Data Validation3 4
th Week Field Teams
11 2 FDGs for Each District i) Minority
Groups/Organizations, ii)
Universities/Colleges’ Students
(preferably women’s)
12 3 Case-studies on Impact
of Conflicts (and if any,
local successful model of
Conflict Resolution)
2nd
and 3rd
Week
13 3 KIIs for each district 2nd
and 3rd
Week
i) District Administration ii)
Local Senior Journalist and iii)
Retired Civil Judges/Lawyers and
iv) Traders Association’s
Representative
14 Data entry 4th
and 5th
Week
15 Data Analysis and First
Draft of the Report
6th
and 7th
Week
3 Telephonically, by switching teams across geographically
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4 Anatomy
4.1 Context
Disputes and conflicts are natural in societies. However, the availability of, easy and timely
access to and efficiency of the systems and mechanisms for their resolution, without any bias
or prejudice for a particular class, gender or group, prevent violence from occurring and end
human suffering. Pakistan is beset with multiple challenges today in this respect. These
challenges stem from long spans of dictatorships in the country, which stifled the culture of
dissent.
The history and the genesis of the rise to power of a military-bureaucratic oligarchy in
Pakistan from the early 1950s and the centralization of state power in the hands of this
oligarchy is well researched and documented by the country's reputable scholars.4 What is
conveniently overlooked for ideological reasons or just poverty of imagination is the fact that
many of Pakistan's grave political, economic and social problems, including the failure of
parliamentary democracy to take roots, emanate from this unitary, highly centralized,
patriarchal and authoritarian structure of the state and the forces that sustain this structure5.
The niche for the concentration of power in fewer hands has been carved out of a propaganda
which suggested that the army had an important role to play for sustaining democracy6 as
well as negotiating perceived threats from India7.
This ideology served the Pakistani military rulers to keep the country under constant
emergency, but it also shaped the popular idea that war was eminent and tricked them into a
relationship of distrust with the political process, electoral politics and democracy itself. The
Frankenstein of terrorism and militancy created in the long Afghan war also created a back
lash for this country. The phenomenon of radicalization, which has played a major part in the
ongoing militancy in Pakistan, is of immense importance in the prevailing volatile security
landscape of the country8. The causes of militancy are complex, and usually a combination of
factors, rather than any one single factor are responsible. It pushes mainly young people into
4 See for instance, Hasan-Askari Rizvi, Military and Political in Pakistan (Lahore: Progressive Publishers, 1976).
5 Hassan N. Gardezi, Democracy and Dictatorship in Pakistan, [22 December 1999]
http://www.sacw.net/aii/gardezi99.html 6 [The Nation] 21 Jan, 2013
7 http://dawn.com/2011/09/09/pakistan-views-india-as-the-perpetual-enemy-and-the-us-as-an-unfaithful-ally/
8 Mujtaba Rathore and Abdul Basit, Trends and Patterns of Radicalization in Pakistan, April 2010, Pakistan Institute for
Peace Studies
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the embrace of militant groups. Poverty and inequality are frequently cited as key causes.
Poverty is [also] a contributing factor for pushing people towards militancy, provided an
enabling environment already exists. This enabling environment is characterized by the local
economy lacking employment opportunities, the presence of members of militant groups in a
community, proximity to a conflict zone, and/or persistent exposure to extremist literature
and media”9. The cumulative effects of these factors have produced a culture of violence in
Pakistan. Today, we are a dispute and conflict ridden society where bad governance is just
one of the symptoms of the national inability to resolve problems, including disputes.
Women, religious and ethnic minorities, children and poor peasants and workers of today’s
Pakistan feel disillusioned and insecure in their own homes, their workplaces and schools
owing to declining law and order situation as well as discrimination. Even the law enforcing
agencies are no longer safe because of rampant terrorism. So, by and large, every stakeholder
is sitting on a fault-line. These fault-lines are intolerance of gender, ethnic and sectarian
identity clash and a clash between haves and have-nots. This undemocratic attitude is
pervasive in both the household and the nation. Some of these fault-lines are visible, move
often and cause shocks and aftershocks at greater scale, at the level of communities,
provinces and the regions. Others are small, subtle and occur almost every day in each
household. This discrimination, however, remains shrouded under “honor” and “family
matter” and the society fights a war of religious-cultural ideology on women’s bodies10
. It is
in Pakistan where we have examples of women of the “enemy” forced to walk naked in the
streets11
or raped12
on the orders of local Jirgas/Panchayats.
Broadly, there are three types of fault-lines of disputes and conflicts which exist in Pakistan
generally and in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa particularly. These are related to i)
relationships, ii) values, and iii) interests13
. The following types of disputes and conflicts fall
in the same categories:
9 Muhammad Azam and Safya Aftab, Inequality and the Militant Threat in Pakistan, 2009, Pakistan Institute for Peace
Studies 10
Aurat Foundation (AF) reveals that in the first six months of 2012, a total of 4,585 such cases were reported in the media
across Pakistan 11
http://tribune.com.pk/story/189986/haripur-case-police-arrest-4-members-of-jirga/ 12
http://uddari.wordpress.com/tag/jirga/, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProgressiveMuslims/message/6012 13 Engaging Your Community, The Discussion Leader’s Guide to Public Issue Dispute Resolution and Participatory Decision –Making, http://www.ncsu.edu/nrli/resources/documents/01ConflictinyourCommunity.pdf
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Interpersonal14
Clannish15
Political16
(among political groups/parties/workers)
Land /Property related
Sectarian17
Ethnic18
Religious
Intra and Inter-Provincial19
Business
Territorial/Regional20
These disputes and conflicts may be found in interpersonal, intra-group, inter-group and/or
inter-organizational relationships, values and interests.
The structural and institutional conflicts do exist in Pakistan, but those are not part of this
context. What we need to understand is dispute is the first stage where effective intervention
can be made. If the disputes are not addressed promptly, adequately and satisfactorily, they
pass onto a stage of conflict. Some conflict resolution experts consider even conflict to be of
immense value, for they allow space for engagement, loyalty, dialogues, and transformation
of energy for greater good.21
They believe that if we fail to capitalize on them, they become
violent and cast negative and dangerous effects on people, often of long-term nature.
Pakistan faces an explosive situation, as half of the population is completely illiterate and the
country faces population bulge, with 63 % of population below 25 years of age. Owing to
inadequate educational facilities, scarce employment opportunities the hope for the future of
14 Money/property related and/or women’s honor related 15
Money/property related and/or women’s honor related 16
Related to the local control of the affairs 17 A sectarian conflict “refers to violent conflict along religious and political lines such as the conflict between Catholics and
Protestants in Northern Ireland (although political beliefs, ethnicity and class divisions all played major roles as well). It may also refer to general philosophical, political or armed conflict between different schools of thought such as that between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims. (Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sectarianism). 18
An ethnic conflict or ethnic war is a conflict between ethnic groups often as a result of ethnic nationalism and ethnic
hatred (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_conflict) 19
For larger share in the national exchequer and more autonomy (resolved through 18th
Amendment to a great extent) 20
Kashmir Dispute 21
Useful Functions of Conflict (Sociology Guide), http://www.sociologyguide.com/basic-concepts/Useful-Functions-of-
Conflict.php
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population looks dim and that frustration may further destabilize the society and our woes
may multiply.
Biased indoctrination of young minds, through education, religious institutions, media and
law is one of the key strategies to bereave a society of its legitimate right to dissent with
respect and security of life. Dr Rubina Saigol in her book ‘Locating the Self’, demonstrated
how textbooks in Pakistan “incite hatred, bigotry and alienation”. In 2003, the Sustainable
Development Policy Institute (SDPI) brought out the ‘Subtle Subversion’ revealing how
Pakistani children have been “educated into ways of thinking that makes them susceptible to
a violent and exclusionary worldview”. Other ideological institutions, particularly religious
institutions and media are hand in glove. The inefficiency of the state apparatuses, especially
the poor justice system, triggers the hidden anger. The male segment of society leashes out at
home on sisters and wives and/or at poor Christian colonies, out there in Shanti Nagar, in
1997, Sangla Hill, in 2005 and Gojra, in 2009. People swarm streets, carrying sticks, guns,
stones, lighters, matchboxes, bottles of kerosene oil, ransack homes and manhandle, and even
kill, men, women and children.
“Pakistan is where the cycle of similar sectarian violence has also taken lives of the people
and targeted the holy places and religious schools of both Shias and Sunni sects. Since the
early 1980s, when sectarian politics got an impetus in Pakistan till today, thousands of people
have been killed in sectarian violence in different parts of the country. Countless suicide
attacks at the religious sites of Sunnis and Shiias not only deepened religious schism but also
led to the assassination of hundreds of professionals from the two sides.22
Sectarian groups,
which emerged during the 1980s and early 1990s, pursued a policy of annihilating each
other.23
Khalid Ahmed, a noted Pakistani writer during his stint at the Woodrow Wilson
Centre for Scholars in 2006, while working on his book entitled, Sectarian War: Pakistan’s
Shi’a-Sunni Violence and its links to the Middle East, argues that:
22 Rasul Bakhsh Rais, “Religious Extremism and Terrorism in Pakistan: Challenges for National Security” in Amitendu Palit
(ed.), South Asia Beyond the Global Financial Crisis (Singapore: World Scientific, 2011), pp. 117-140. 23
See for instance the following studies on the early phase of sectarian conflict: 23
Mukhtar Ahmad Ali, Sectarian Conflict in Pakistan, Policy Studies, 9 (Colombo: Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, 2000), p. 14; Mohammad Waseem, “Sectarian Conflict in Pakistan,” in K.M. de Silva (ed), Conflict and Violence in South Asia (Kandi, Sri Lanka: International Centre for Ethnic Studies, 2000), p. 20-21.
Page | 20
Thousands of lives have been lost in Pakistan’s sectarian war in the last two
decades of the 20th century. And the mayhem continues into the 21st century. A
tolerable level of Sunni-Shi’a tension was inherited by the country from British
Raj, but the two sects squared off violently only after 1980. Like all internecine
conflicts, the war of the sects has been characterized by extreme cruelty. It
coincided with the onset of the Islamic Revolution of Imam Khomeini in Iran and
the threat its “export” posed to Saudi Arabia and other Arab states across the
Gulf”24
.
Ethnic disputes and conflicts are almost omnipresent in Pakistan too. Within Punjab, for
example, North and South Punjab25
have an ethnic divide, which is now more visible as the
country is flexing its muscles for elections in 2013. “The proposal to carve out a new
province of South Punjab from Pakistan's most populous and politically crucial state of
Punjab has gained momentum, with all parties except the ruling PML-N agreeing to it”26
. It is
at an initial stage of dispute yet. Similarly, in KP, Hazara27
political leadership vies for
popular support to carve out a separate province. While we see the political leadership of the
ruling party standing in support of Hazara province and there does not seem to be any clash
between Pakhtuns and Hazaras on this, Sindh is a different story where divide between
Pakhtuns and Non-Pakhtuns (or Urdu Speaking/Mohajir community) is charged enough to
have created a security situation. Sindh is a volcano of ethnic frictions as a matter of fact. The
simmering violence in its capital Karachi during the last ten years has taken 5,549 lives,
whereas 227 lost lives during the first eight months of 201228
. Baluchistan is altogether a
different story where groups of people, mostly youths, are up against the state in response to
the denial of their legitimate rights.
24 Moonis Ahmar, Sectarian Conflict in Pakistan: Some lessons from The Irish Experience, IPRI Journal X, no.1 (Winter
2010): 50-76 25
South Punjab is the southernmost region of Pakistan's Punjab province. The districts of Bahawalpur, Multan, Rahim Yar Khan and D. G. Khan are geographically regarded as components of the region. Unlike other areas of mainland Punjab, where Punjabi-speaking people are the majority, the demographic make-up of southern Punjab has historically been made up of Saraiki people who speak the Saraiki/Multani language. This area is often alternatively called Saraikistan or Rohi. Sometimes, the Saraiki-concentrated districts of Bhakkar, Mianwali and D.I. Khan in Punjab are also associated with the regional belt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Punjab_(Pakistan). 26
http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2011/Aug/8/-south-punjab-demand-gains-momentum-in-pakistan-47.asp 27
Hazara region comprises of six districts: Abbottabad District, Battagram District, Haripur District, Kohistan District,
Mansehra District and now, since 28 January 2011, the new Tor Ghar District, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazara,_Pakistan). 28
http://iaoj.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/political-and-ethnic-battles-turn-karachi-into-beirut-of-south-asia/
Page | 21
Ethnic and sectarian disputes and conflicts present the most complex and difficult situation.
We don’t see any coherent or well-thoughout response in Pakistan in terms of available
systems and mechanisms for their resolution. The familial and communal disputes and
conflicts however, have systems and mechanisms in place. Such instances are too frequent
and omnipresent, in almost every household and street, across rural, urban and semi-urban
settlements. These are too personal for everyone. And this is where an opening can also be
created. The road to peace and democracy in Pakistan has to be planned so the abstract ideals
become real. It means that people demonstrate improved levels of tolerance towards others at
every level. They need tolerance at homes, in the streets, toward other clans, including the
deprived sections of society. They also need to include them in their decision making
processes at the communal level, negotiate discontent through dialogue. Legal recourse for
crimes is necessary. But the law must have an effective response so that sense of security
prevails in the society and that institutions start performing well. This kind of transformation
is difficult and time consuming because it seeks change in behavior. But when it starts, it
changes the narrative and people gradually reclaim what they had already conceded to the
undemocratic forces. It means that it is basically a struggle of democratization of society at
the level of household and nation. The obvious dividends are equality, good governance and
accountability.
This study, “Responding to Disputes and Conflicts”, is an effort to understand and explain the
prevailing realities in the Punjab and KP with respect to resolving of disputes and conflicts. It
seeks to contribute in enabling the audience to devise actions for tolerance, social inclusion,
peace building, legal literacy and assistance. The ultimate objective is to promote such
practices that lead to meeting even bigger challenges of democratization of society at the
grass roots level, strengthening of democracy and making the state and government
institutions responsive in Pakistan.
5 Disputes and Conflicts and their Impact
This study “Responding to Disputes and Conflicts” aims to:
i) Identify the nature of disputes and conflicts,
ii) Understand efficiency of the available response mechanisms, the level of social
inclusion in decision making, legal literacy among people,
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iii) Identify needs for local capacity development for dispute/conflict resolution and
areas where local actions for peace-building are taking place,
iv) Ascertain whether communities think that disputes and conflicts have an impact,
especially on women.
The study also sheds light, through KIIs and FGDs with different stakeholders, at the district
level, on the type, frequency and the impact of disputes and conflicts, the available trends of
philanthropy on social cohesion and peace, capacity gaps on conflict and dispute resolution
and local willingness to take action.29
The following section of the study throws light on the nature of disputes and conflicts,
frequency and impact on women and local business and employment opportunities.
5.1 Types of Disputes and Conflicts and Frequency of Occurrence
The findings of the study reveal that Familial/Clannish and Land/Money disputes and
conflicts are the most dominant types, both in KP and Punjab, as shown in Graph 1 below.
This is followed by “Others”. The category of “Others” refers to day-to-day conflicts and
disputes that arise at the level of mohallah/street on petty matters such as drainage, staring at
each other, childrens fights, trespassing, etc. Despite the fact that sectarian and ethnic
disputes were also found in general discussion but those were not very common in the target
localities and
people were not
very comfortable
in discussing them
either. This is
however an
interesting finding
that majority of
the male
29
We refer to the following literature on conflict resolution: Morton Deutsch, “Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice,”
Political Psychology, vol. 4, No, 3, 1993, pp. 431-453; United States Institute of Peace, “Building Local Conflict Resolution Capacity in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province and Federally Administered Areas”,, December 13, 2009 (Available on website of USIP).
Page | 23
respondents, both in KP and Punjab, were of the opinion that land/money disputes and
conflicts were more frequent. On the contrary, female respondents were of the opinion that
familial/clannish disputes were more frequent. This finding reinforces the observation that
males deal with the public sphere whereas females deal mostly with the private sphere and
they have different matters to sort out.
The findings related to the question whether the
frequency of disputes and conflicts has increased in the
communities, opinion of the respondents was found as
divided, as evident in Graph 2.
Almost half of the respondents thought that disputes and
conflicts had increased in their communities whereas the
rest did not think so. This seems to have occurred
probably because of the shift in life style, as people
usually remain unaware of what is taking place ten blocks
away or in the next settlement. This assertion seems to be
correct if we match the finding with that of the KIIs with
lawyers and retired judges who gave an overall opinion at
the district level. One of the participants of focus group
discussions, an elderly woman, at Charsadda, mentioned
this, “people refuse to see what is happening around
“Lawyers are practically surviving on cases related to family disputes and conflicts. In Sargodha, about 100 cases are being filed daily. In my view, still, 40 to 50 % people remain unable to get FIR registered. Farooq Ejaz Naseer, Advocate, Sargodha District Bar
The key informants, at D.I. Khan (KP), told that trend of women filing suites for inheritance was increasing in the district as compared to three decades ago.
Page | 24
them”.
In the FGDs, a majority of the participants also confirmed that common disputes and
conflicts in their respective districts were related to land/money, family /clan, politics,
honor and sectarian and ethnic.
The participants of the FGDs were of the view that familial/clannish disputes and conflicts
take place on the matters of matrimony, children’s custody, inheritance, etc. They reported
that local power structures join their hands and employ their power and influence for their
own interests. They felt that minor issues lead to bigger conflicts.
Some of the participants gave examples of their communities in which families got divided
upon marriage between two individuals belonging to different sects, and then the respective
communities jumped to make the issue more complicated and volatile.
In Abbotabad, in KP, the participants reported that students of different educational
institutions often got involved in ethnic strife. At Charsadda, in KP, women noted that honor
killings and honor related disputes and conflicts were very common. The women shared that
the “religious clergy, in Juma prayers, give sermons mostly about restricting women to
homes, and this indoctrination often triggers household level disputes”. Women viewed
sectarian disputes through the familial prism. For example, in Chakwal, in Punjab, women
shared stories of their families in which disputes and conflicts occurred because of Shia boy
marrying a Sunni girl or vice versa.
In the key informant interviews, lawyers and retired civil and session judges, in KP and
Punjab, found the following as the main reasons of family-law related disputes and conflicts:
Joint family system
Refusal to pay maintenance cost and Denial of right to inheritance
Custody of the children
Recovery of Dowry/Dower
Watta Satta (exchange marriages) and Forced Marriages
Divorce/Khula
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Aren’t These Very Common Challenges in Pakistan? “A young boy shot his father and brother, in a family brawl, a few blocks away. The boy’s father died on the spot while his brother sustained a serious stomach injury. The injury kept him hospitalized for many months, consequently leaving him unable to live a normal life. The boy was charged with the crime of murder and got sentenced. But then having lost the economic support and the protection that a physically fit son could provide as compared to an unfit child, the mother forgave him and got her son out of jail. The boy now lives with his ailing brother and mother in the same home.” (A female respondent)
“A husband and wife in one of the nearby households quarreled. The woman left her home with her kids to live with her poor parents who could not afford the situation. She somehow got the case filed in the court. It took three years but the case was not resolved. Then finally, the family members mediated and got the wife and kids back to their home. By that time, however, the husband had re-married. Now both the wives and the kids live in the same house. The husband and his new wife don’t treat her well. But she is tolerating it because of her children’s future.” (A female respondent, Charsadda)
All the key informants agreed that disputes and conflicts have substantially increased in
the recent years and the available legal mechanisms are unable to handle the workload.
Their opinion was based on the number of cases taken up by the courts and the delays in the
dispensation of justice.
As for civil cases, the lawyers and retired civil and session judges, in KP and Punjab, noted
that agricultural land, irrigation related issues, demarcation of agricultural land, illegal
transfer of land/property are some of the main reasons for disputes and conflicts. But family
related cases are more in number than all others.
5.2 Impact of Disputes and Conflicts
With respect to the impact of disputes and conflicts on women, the perception of males
and females, at KP and Punjab, has been noted and analyzed in the Table 1 and 2, on the
next page. These findings come as a result of an open-ended question asked in the survey.
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Table 1: Perception of Males about the Impact of Conflict and Dispute on
Women/Minorities/Vulnerable Groups
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Analysis
Future of children and women becomes
unclear and it is worrisome
When a family member is murdered, the
murderers get scot free whereas the family of
the deceased become helpless and
economically vulnerable
Food security is jeopardized
Women are psychologically disturbed and
cannot focus children’s education and
wellbeing
Police raids and men become worried
If an earning male dies, life for women and
children, becomes hell
Women cannot do their domestic work
efficiently
Women become fearful
Women tow decisions of the male members in
almost all matters of familial concern because
of the traditional superiority of males.
There is no significant impact
We don’t know if there is any impact
At many places, houses of the murderers were
burnt but children and women were seriously
affected by such acts
Religious minorities remain mostly unheard
Women’s rights are not protected
If a woman is involved, only she is held
responsible for the act
Uncertainty and fear about the lack of
The overall context of males’ views, in
KP, about the impact of disputes and
conflicts about women and religious
minorities is more from the perspective
of “lack of protection”, “economic
insecurities” and “sexual
vulnerabilities”. However, the sexual
vulnerability was not discussed by the
people in the survey, held at village,
neighborhood and settlement level,
because it is considered taboo and it
implies men’s weakness. And it was
only at the level of district where focus
group discussions were held (with a
relatively more mobile and aware group
of people who had exposure) that this
was clearly identified by the
participants.
Whereas KP’s males are better informed
about the impacts of conflicts as
compared to their counterparts in Punjab
due to their long exposure to particular
conditions, the majority could only see
the impact in terms of inability of
women in focusing household chores
and tending to the children as
consequences. The respondents in
Punjab had a limited view that did not
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“If a son is involved in a conflict, his mother is worried. If a husband is involved, his wife takes the brunt. If a brother is involved, his sister feels vulnerable. I myself did not speak to my sister for many years because I was forced to do so by my husband on a property-related dispute”. Nasira Batool, Chak No 79, North, Sargodha
protection take over substantiate their statements.
Punjab
There are negative impacts for women
Financial insecurity prevails
We don’t know
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Table 2: Perception of Female about the Impact of Conflict and Dispute on
Women/Minorities/Weaker Sections
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Analysis
Families break apart and communication stops
Women become economic liability
Fear drives children to quit education
Women become too worried about the safety of the
children
Girls are married early or good matches are not found
Women cannot go anywhere
Women don’t feel safe even in visiting families for health
education and polio vaccination
Women are forced to quit jobs
Women become prisoners in their own houses and their
interaction with other family members is discouraged
Women become psychologically ill
In KP, females have a different,
comprehensive and emotionally rich
understanding of the impact. They see
impact through the perspective of
families’ disruption, denial of
education, fears about safety and
security of children, girls’ early
marriages, unemployment, restriction
of mobility and psychological
breakdown.
In Punjab, women are also the most
impacted social group. They however
add value to brothers, fathers and male
members of the family for social,
economic and physical protection (fear
of rape). They see their movement,
even for nature’s call, restricted that
men’s often not think about and has
been confirmed in the findings in the
previous table.
In Punjab, where women also
demonstrated emotional intelligence,
clearly mentioned that women were
exchanged or given in marriage against
their will, to settle disputes in the
families. Men did not mention this
aspect perhaps either they had a sense
of complete control on women
Punjab
Women feel broken and sad
Difficulties multiply for those women who don’t have
brothers
Economic condition becomes worse because of litigation
Disputes and conflicts create depression
Women become vulnerable in every sense, including
sexual sense
Women’s lives become hell
Women become economically vulnerable
Women’s cannot move, and even cannot go [in the open]
for excretion purposes
Children become target of anger as women beat them for
their small mistakes
Women become a bargaining chip to settle disputes
Household management suffers negatively
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Conflict and disputes compound women’s problems
because they already have a lower status in society
associated to this practice. They did not
have any moral justification to defend
this, or they just simply forgot to
mention because it was somewhere
very down on the list in terms of impact
on women’s lives.
The question of impact on women and religious and ethnic minorities was also asked
from communities’ groups, in FGDs, in order to validate the information collected above.
IFT also conducted KIIs with Traders Associations/Chambers of Commerce of the target
districts to assess how they see disputes and conflicts impacting them.
The traders/business representatives maintained that the law and order situation impacts their
business more in terms of insecurity and unemployment. The representatives did not find that
disputes and conflicts impact their business otherwise.
Some of the key informants shared that poverty was one of the factors that impacts peoples
buying power, which in effect gives rise to conflicts and disputes. Generally, the traders
viewed the question of impact through the prism of terrorism.
Some of their comments are as follows:
Abbotabad is a tourist place. Disputes and conflicts have eroded the tourism economy. In
any unwelcome situation, people don’t visit markets and bazaars because they fear loss of
their lives. Even daily-wage laborers don’t sit as openly as they do in normal circumstances.
Insecurity impacts very negatively the income of the shop-keepers of cafes, restaurants and
hotels. (Naveed Ikram, Senior Vice President, Chambers of Commerce, Abbotabad, KP)
Business remains closed because of frequent bomb explosions at markets, shrines, schools,
and almost everywhere. Mobile services remained suspended for 17 months, leaving the
business of mobiles closed and a lot of people unemployed. The riding of motorcycles was
also banned. So, the motorcycle mechanics had become jobless. Hotel industry is surviving
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Sima, Paying for the Crime She Did not Commit Village Choha Gujjar, District Peshawar
Sima is 20 years. She has two brothers and four sisters. One of her sisters and both the brothers are now married. One of Sima’s brothers got involved with a girl of her village. Her brother and the girl used a mobile phone to communicate with each other. Though her brother was engaged already but love had its own course. One day, when the girl’s brother was ou, she left her house. She reached Sima’s home and put a call to Sima’s brother to inform him that she will not return. “My father became very upset and he asked if my brother incited her to do that wrongful act. She said it was her own choice” Sima reported. For a week, it remained a stalemate as search party’s fail to recover the girl and Sima’s father remained caught by indecision. But then the father broke the news to the girl’s father for he felt it was morally incorrect to hide the young girl at his house whether she wanted to stay there and had come of her own accord. As the news broke, it was time for the traditional Jirga to convene. The girl’s father wanted Swarah, i.e., giving daughters to settle the conflict. The girl’s father wanted both Sima and her sister. One of the girls of the village, Shaista, who is active and energetic, managed to convince the girl’s father that Sawarah was Un-Islamic and there was a law against the custom, and that if he insisted, police will arrest him because someone will launch the complaint. The threat worked at least in giving freedom to Sima and her sister. But what then followed was equally painful. The Jirga decided that Sima’s father hands over his house to the girl’s father and both the boy and the girl, who were “culprits” in their view, leave the village. Sima, her sister and mother now live at her uncle’s home. Her brother left with his wife to Rawalpindi. Her father, heart-broken in his old age, has to labor in order to feed them. Even if marrying by choice is a crime, they are paying for it. Source: Consultations with Rural Youth for Youth Engagement Strategy, Conducted by IFT for The World Bank, 2012
barely. Shops close early. People have become poorer. (Jameel Ahmed, President Anjuman
e Tajraan, D.I. Khan, KP)
People don’t visit markets when there is a dispute, conflict or a bomb-explosion. In our
district, no one is ready to rent out his shop for net-café or CDs related business. Even those
who had been doing this business for years are being asked by the owners to vacate their
shops. (Haji Hakimullah Fauji, Muthidda Shopkeepers Federation, Charsadda, KP)
4-3 Responses and Mechanisms: Roles, Capacities and Gaps
6 Existing Practices
In this section, the study covers:
Skills/Methods of Early Warning Indicators
Page | 31
Trends of Pre-empting Conflicts and Disputes
Behavioral Response towards Disputes and Conflicts
Perception about Best Mediator
Legal Literacy about Family Laws and Mechanisms in Place for Masses Awareness
Existing Practices of Dispute and Conflict Resolution
Available Local Mechanisms of Resolving and Responding Disputes and Conflicts
Trends of Local Philanthropy on Harmony
Role of the Departments in Conflict Prevention and Resolution
6.1 Early Warning Indicators
Early warning indicators, sources and indigenous methods are important for understanding,
preventing and even responding to disputes and conflict, from the household to communities
and at the national level. There is no such thing as a ‘sudden crisis’; it is only lack of
information or analysis at the government/state level. At present, there is no generalized
global monitoring mechanism to allow for the early identification of negative developments
within countries or regions. Some commercial systems exist, but these have a limited
geographical coverage. Unfortunately these systems offer little transparency about their
applied methodologies, and their rate of success in predicting conflict varies30
. Media
reporting is usually focused on crisis situations, times when developments have already gone
off course. Pakistan has done hardly anything from peoples’ perspective. In Pakistan, there
are no formal and systematic methods of early warning.
However, mainly
people, have some basic
sense of warning that
leads them to prepare
for prevention of a
dispute. In this study,
we put two questions
pertaining to the subject.
30 Linder, Anja and Santiso, Carlos, Assessing the Predictive Power of Country Risk Rating, SAIS Working Paper Series, WP/02/02, Washington, DC: The Johns Hopkins University, 2002.
Page | 32
One, do the communities in question have early warning method/source for getting
information about dispute/conflict before-hand. Two, what are the indicators that help
them reach the conclusion that a dispute/conflict is going to take place. Graph 3 is about
the indigenous indicators that inform the communities before-hand about the likelihood of the
occurrence of disputes and conflicts.
Table 3: Early Warning Indicators of the Communities
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Punjab
Males Males
Abusive language used by men and
youths
Allegations that we hear
Some people start fanning the
dispute/conflict
People whispering to each other
When it rains (because drainage
problem often causes disputes)
Eid and other happy events
Electricity failure (chances of attacks
become fat)
People start talking about the
dispute/conflict
Someone of the community breaks the
news
Men talking about the likelihood of
disputes and conflicts at hotels/cafes
Females Females
Men talk about the situation at home
Women talking at a common place
(shops, community water taps, etc)
Men become silent when angry
We feel a lot of noise around
Men pickup sticks, rush out and don’t
listen to anyone
Someone in the family/street
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In Punjab, a majority of the female respondents did not have any method or source in
addressing interpersonal disputes. There are about 30 % women who think they have the
early warning indicators, sources and methods available to them. It means they have some
early warning in cases of group-level disputes because of a larger sense of threat and
volatility. But on the contrary, a majority of the male respondents in Punjab have the good
sense to detect early indications of disputes and conflicts.
In KP, however, the situation is a little different. About 60 % female respondents either get a
warning for themselves or they somehow manage to calculate what might happen next. But
the male respondents in KP were found either having the warning or not it having at all (the
option of “some extent” remained unutilized).
As for local indicators that warn the respondents about conflicts and disputes in advance, the
respondents shared the following in the FGDs:
The information channels for women both in KP and the Punjab, as evident in the table,
relates more to private sphere, attitudes and behaviors, often connected with emotional
intelligence whereas for males, the sources are external, or related to public sphere. 31
31
See Policy Brief, “Gender Sensitization for conflict management and conflict resolution”. http://www.jinnah-institute.org/programs/strategic-security-program/271-policy-brief-gender-sensitization-for-conflict-management-and-resolution. Accesses on May 1, 2013.
Women in the street and neighbors
Inquiring from men
communicates
Men start restricting our movement
outside
Children inform us about dispute
related events of their school
Maids tell us
Males become violent and abusive
Women in the street and neighbors
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6.2 Experience of Pre-empting Disputes and Conflicts
The study also explored
whether people pre-empt
disputes and conflicts in their
communities/families. Graph 4
in this section illustrates the
trends.
The graph indicates that there is
a majority of people with no
experience of dispute and
conflict resolution. Of the
remaining respondents who pre-
empted conflicts, very few have the experience of handling multiple disputes and conflicts.
From the same group, the majority had some experience of resolving interpersonal and family
/clan disputes and conflicts.
Women are completely invisible in resolving any ethnic/sectarian dispute in KP.
Interestingly, men in KP also showed only very small trend of resolving interpersonal
disputes. This indicates that they are dependent more on the local systems and mechanisms of
conflict and dispute resolution.
6.3 Response of Males and Females on Conflicts and Disputes People respond to disputes and
conflicts differently. Some don’t
think much of the consequences,
either by admitting they were at
fault, for fear or calculating that
the opponent is more powerful.
Others would fight and drag the
situation to the next level. The
study explored the target
Page | 35
communities about their common responses.
The Graph 5 gives us an insight into whether the respondents i) implore the concerned
parties not to fight, ii) don’t intervene and let the dispute/conflict take place, iii) hide
somewhere in fear, iv) fight side by side with men/women, v) or build pressure to
resolve the issue. This question was directly asked about the respondents and is therefore not
perception related.
Majority of female respondents in KP don’t intervene. This is followed by who implore
males not to fight or build pressure or persuade them not to pick up fights. This is a natural
response in a society where conflicts are often very bloody and the impact falls squarely on
women, from psychological complications to their marriages to the person who is victimized
through the settlement of a dispute. This is why we find more males in KP implore and build
pressure to stop conflicts and disputes. In Punjab, however, it is a very interesting finding that
females engage in disputes and conflicts side by side with the men of their families.
6.4 Legal Awareness on Family Laws and Sources of Awareness about Property Related Laws The question about legal awareness/literacy on family laws offered multiple choices to the
respondents. The set of sub-questions on different areas of Family Laws were as under:
Awareness Related to Family
Laws
Yes No Some
1 Children’s Custody
2 Maintenance
3 Nikkah
4 Inheritance
5 Divorce
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The findings from Punjab are given in Graph 6. The overall situation in the Punjab indicates
that males have more awareness about family laws than females.
The male respondents, in Punjab, also have relatively higher level of information about
Nikkah, Inheritance and Divorce. Women however lag behind in knowledge about these
issues.
On the other hand, however, females have more awareness about children’s custody than
males. It is also evident that a very small number has awareness about divorce.
The findings, from KP, have been illustrated in the Graph 7.
Page | 37
The 1935 Act ensured women’s share in inheritance. However, illiteracy hampered and the right was not passed onto women at the communities’ level even years and years after. Bothers used to get sisters to renounce their share in the ancestral property. Now, sisters file suits to get their legitimate right. But still there is a lot to be done. Abad us Salam, Advocate, D.I. Khan
The percentage of males and females in KP, lacking awareness about the mentioned
components of family laws, is alarmingly high.
The awareness among males about the law related to Nikkah is higher than that of the
females. But at the same time, those females who have awareness about inheritance law are
more in number than males. Lawyers also confirmed this trend, in KIIs. They told us that
more women now file suites for claiming their share in the inheritance. This is happening
perhaps because of awareness campaigns that civil society organizations carry out from time
to time.
IFT asked a question, in KIIs, from lawyers/retired district and session judges whether
there was any system in place that sensitizes women about family laws and if no, whether
they recommend any such system.
All the key informants reported that there was no such system in place. They said that such
awareness was the right of every citizen but the state was hardly serious in promoting this
literacy. They also noted that NGOs conduct awareness seminars and campaigns that allow
some women to have information. All the informants underscored the need to develop such a
system, for example, related to mass education, so that burden on courts should reduce and
Page | 38
people are able to settle disputes and conflicts according to the law at the household level,
first.
The study also covers views of the district administration on skills that they consider are
imperative to resolve disputes and conflicts. Following paragraphs relate to the same.
Shah Zaman Khan, EDO Social Welfare, District D.I. Khan (KP) was of the opinion that
Gender Based Violence Sub Cluster should be re-mobilized and women be sensitized about
its role. He also felt that Musalihat e Anjumans and similar bodies’ roles must be organized
and women should also be given essential training on mediation skills so that case burden on
courts could be lessened and people are able to resolve their issues within the families and
communities.
Gohar Jamal, CPO Social Welfare, District Charsadda (KP), stressed that people must learn
special techniques for mediation and resolution of conflicts. He thought that government and
NGOs could be the best sources for these trainings.
Saeed Ahmed, DSP Elite Force, District Abbotabad (KP), noted that people should be given
skills to analyze culture and religion carefully and must have good understanding of law. He
felt that legal fraternity’s role on mediation was important. Therefore, lawyers must be given
sound training on the subject, he suggested. He thought that media, seminars and trainings
could be the best vehicles for transfer of knowledge and skills on the subject.
Kiran, member CPLC, District Sargodha (Punjab) was of the opinion that the police must be
given extensive gender training. At the community level, legal awareness and negotiation
skills are essential to reduce disputes and conflicts.
Aslam Chuhan, DSP Legal, District Bahawalpur, suggested that people must be provided
mediation skills. He also felt that training and awareness of people on rights of women and
religious minorities, dialogue and legal framework of rights can be helpful in substantially
reducing incidents of conflicts and disputes.
Raja Nasir, DSP Legal, District Chakwal (Punjab), was of the opinion that since disputes and
conflicts relate to different laws, it would be helpful if lawyers and legal practitioners
Page | 39
delivered public lectures on such subjects so that the occurrence of disputes and conflicts is
reduced at the community level.
The same question was put to the lawyers/retired district and session judges, in KIIs, as
to which skills they think could be helpful for people, especially women, to resolve
conflicts.
Farrukh Ejaz Naseer, Advocate, District Bar, Sargodha (Punjab), was of the opinion that
training on conflict resolution was essential. He underscored the importance of people
learning the skill of tolerance and mediation to give peace more space. He wanted
organizations, government and media to promote the success stories of mediation at the
public level.
Abdus Salam, Senior Advocate, District D.I. Khan (KP) said that people lacked skills of
mediation and information about law. He was of the opinion that government, media and
NGOs can be instrumental in promoting skills and legal literacy. He mentioned that
numerous villages did not have regular electricity supply and there were many households
that don’t have television sets because of poverty or other reasons. He was of the opinion that
such households must be special targets of training and awareness on mediation and common
laws.
Jan Muhammad, Retired Additional Session Judge, District Charsadda (KP) also stressed the
need of public education on different conflicts and disputes and the legal course that could be
adopted for resolution. He felt that such training would bring about peace in society on one
hand and help lessen courts burden on the other.
Sardar Mudassar Liaqat, General Secretary High Court Bar Association, District Abbotabad
(KP), was of the opinion that people should be given awareness and skills on mediation,
commonly used provision of law, especially Family Laws, the Quran and Sunnah, and trained
mediators must be paid by the government. He felt that media, government, religious clergy
and civil society should play its role in disseminating such knowledge and skills.
As for the awareness of laws, the study included a question as to whether there was any
local mechanism that people used to seek legal information about land/property related
issues.
Page | 40
Graph 8 indicates that
Patwari is the top source in
a community for
disseminating information
on land/property related
issues. This is followed by
the other sources including
lawyers, NGOs and
acquaintances (Family
Member/Friend/Colleague).
This does not mean
however the information
provided by Patwari is always accurate32
.
It is surprising to note that males in KP were not found contacting any NGO (or vice versa)
for legal information. This is probably because they were biased against NGOs. They feel
that information they provide couldn’t be relied upon. The reason could be that the NGOs did
not plan their advocacy campaigns according to time considerations of the male employment
sector.
6.5 Existing Practices of Resolving Disputes and Conflicts
The respondents were asked
in the survey as to how they
usually resolved their
family disputes and
conflicts. The options were
whether they resolve it by
32
87 % of the clients argue that a Patwari does not provide correct and timely information in all land related disputes. 93 % of the clients say that land related disputes can be solved in time if the information on land is provided correctly by the BOR (what does this stand for) officials in a timely fashion. 100 % of the clients say that most of the people are not aware of land related procedures and fees defined by the BOR. 92 % of the BOR officials agree that no effort is carried out by the BOR to publish any print information for public awareness about land related procedures, basic steps, and rules for land transactions. Thus the public is not aware of who has to be approached for an appeal or who is responsible for different levels of the land administration agency – Land Administration System in Pakistan – Current Situation and Stakeholders Perceptions, Zahir Ali and Abdul Nasir, Pakistan, 2010, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Page | 41
discussing within the family or with a third party/legal
authority’s intervention.
Graph 9 illustrates provincial and gender-desegregated
findings. It indicates that the communities in KP mostly
resolve their disputes and conflicts within the family
whereas in Punjab, family members and third party
intervention both serve as the local mechanism.
In the 12 focus group discussions, held with women
and men separately, at the district level, a majority of
males and females were of the opinion that familial,
land/money disputes were more common than any
other type of dispute. The participants reported that
they had various forums for dispute resolution available
to them. For example, the administration of the
educational institutions resolves conflicts and disputes
taking place amongst youths at the educational institutions. Similarly, family elders, religious
clergy (maulvi), Jirga, Musalihat e Anjuman, police and/or courts, also resolve the conflict at
different levels. At Charsadda, majority of the participants of the FGD noted Jirga as the most
commonly used mechanism in a third party intervention model. In the Punjab, however, even
though Panchayats were found to be working, especially at the rural level, yet seeking justice
through legal recourse was also noted to be getting currency because, as the FGDs reported,
people don’t feel satisfied with the decisions made by the Panchayats,. The provision of Third
Party Intervention covered both Jirga/Panchayats and Formal Legal System and the term was
explained to the participants.
6.6 Local Mechanisms for Resolving Disputes and Conflicts
To one of the questions asked from the communities as to which, single or multiple
mechanism(s) was/were performing in their community/area, for resolution of disputes
and conflicts, from among Police Station, Jirga/Panchayat, Musalihat e Anjuman, NGOs and
Others, the responses are shown in Graph 10.
We understand that panchayats can’t solve problems
themselves. The police has to solve religious and sectarian
disputes, and handle even terrorism. NGOs can play a part certainly. For example, we have
been cooperating with SAP-PK and CDC, which have initiated a
forum where religious/sectarian leaders participate along with
police officials and other stakeholders, including
minorities, meet. We are trying to spread awareness about such issues through this forum. It has been effective to an extent, but it is new and needs proper legal backing so that it is sustainable.
Aslam Chohan
DSP-Legal, Bahawalpur District
Page | 42
In the holy month of Muharrum, in 2012, many Shiites were killed a bomb blast. SPO gathered all communities and, while condemning the incident in the strongest possible terms, diffused the tension through constant dialogue. Consequently, leaders of all Shias, Sunnis and other sects, in the district, got together and pledged not to succumb to the conspiracy of the terrorists. This was very important to neutralize the possible fallout of the terrorist attacks in terms of the future.
FGD, D.I. Khan KP
The graph indicates that among other mechanisms NGOs were also involved in dispute and
conflict resolution. However, this is perhaps because the survey was carried out in mostly
those districts where inception phase of the
AAWAZ program was being implemented.
However, the glaring difference between people
accessing Police Stations and people seeking
help from Jirga/Panchayat) is quite visible in the
graph.33
Accessing police for help is visibly on
the lower side.
Musalihat-e-Anjumans do not exist anymore
because the local government ordinance 2001 has
been rolled back, yet some communities still
continue to use them.
The category of “Others” in Graph 10 refers to single person’s intervention, of an elder or an
influential person from the community. Some communities were using such mechanisms
also.
33
Panchayat is an old institution in this part of the world, used both by communities in India and as well as in Pakistan. See
for instance, Stig Toft Madsen, “Clan, Kinship and Panchayat Justice among the Jats of Western Utter Pradesh,” Anthropos, No. 86, 1991, pp. 351-365.
Page | 43
Pre-empting a dispute or a conflict largely depends on the ability to assess the situation in
advance. In this study, IFT asked a question, in KII with the district administration,
whether the concerning district administration has any system in place that informs it
about tribal and/or sectarian/ethnic conflicts in advance, and if yes, whether that system
was functional and whether the district administration has any suggestions for its
improvement. The respondents for KII included DSP, Member CPLC and/or EDO Social
Welfare.
The key informants reported that there was no system in place except in terror related cases,
but that too is not very accurate. This means that administration seriously lacks a system on
early warnings and prevention for local conflicts and disputes. They however welcomed the
idea of establishing a system that could enable the administration take early action. This of
course may need to change in the business rules and procedures of the administration.
6.7 Traders’ Response on Philanthropy and Practices for Communal Harmony
Local philanthropy in KP and the Punjab is more about charity, and not for soft or hard
development and social harmony except in a case at Sialkot where manufacturers of sports
goods and other equipment got an airport constructed for business purposes. This
approach/practice is also evident from the number of religious seminaries flourishing in the
country that manage to obtain a good chunk of resources from the local philanthropists34
.
Charity health and education services are very weak. But the trends seem to be changing as
security is emerging as the primary concern and some traders associations are more focused
on taking security measures for their business. In recent years, during the earthquake of 2005
and floods of 2010 and 2011, however, business communities contributed heavily. The
traders, manufacturers and factory owners, especially in cities like Faisalabad, Sialkot and
Gujranwala, in the Punjab province, support relief efforts as a charity. The formal corporate
sector has not done much, given the weak culture of corporate social responsibility in the
country.
34
"The authors (of the World Bank report) have insisted that there are at most 475,000 children in Pakistani madrassas. Federal Religious Affairs Minister Eja-zul-Haq says the country's madrassas impart religious education to 1,000,000 children. South Asia Director of ICG, Samina Ahmed asserted that the World Bank findings were directly at odds with the ministry of education's 2003 directory, which said the number of madrassas had increased from 6,996 in 2001 to 10,430. She added that the madrassa unions themselves had put the figure at 13,000 madarsas with the total number of students enrolled at 1.5 to 1.7 million (Pakistani Religious Seminaries, by Amir Mir in Lahore, http://www.cobrapost.com/documents/seminaries.htm)
Page | 44
In this study “Responding to Disputes and
Conflicts”, IFT conducted KIIs with
representatives of traders associations.
There were three questions asked from them.
These were:
How did the Traders’ Association support
communal harmony? If not, what can it do?
To whom does your Association give
charity?
Do you give charity with a considered view that the money you give will be used for
interfaith harmony, or you just give it for the blessings of God?
Very interestingly, even though the local traders/chambers knew that terrorism was taking
place in the country because of sectarian and ethnic factors, none of the traders’
associations/chambers contributed charity/funds for the purpose of supporting communal
harmony. It is mainly because the local philanthropy has not been properly sensitized,
advised and tapped by the civil society. Nor has the government undertaken any campaign on
this issue. But we have some examples where traders intervened directly to diffuse sectarian
tensions. Generally these examples are hard to find. At Chakwal, for example, the District
Anjuman e Tajraan averted a clash between Shias and Sunnis, in 2012. They talked to both
parties separately and successfully persuaded them to agree on an arrangement for Moharram
8. There is another example of a member of the traders association who is also a member of
CPLC, at Sargodha who helped prevent sectarian clash. But the mandate of CPLC is
different. Nonetheless, the member is playing an active role in addressing sectarian issues.
The CPLC is taking action against the misuse of power by the police and spreading some
awareness on insecurity and terrorism.
6.8 Organizations and/or Programmes on Dispute/Conflict Resolution
Multiple departments work on conflict and dispute resolution and prevention, at UC,
tehsil/town, district and provincial levels. These include police stations, department of
revenue, office of magistrate, district and session courts (including family courts), citizens
police liaison committees, high court (at the provincial level) and mediators, for resolution of
Misguided Potential
We got our district graveyard repaired and maintained with one million rupees
AWAAZ should focus education in Sargodha. Public schools here are in terrible shape
Naeem Aslam Kapoor, Joint Secretary, Pakistan
Anjuman e Tajraan, Sargodha, Punjab
Page | 45
different types of disputes and conflicts. It is mandatory for district and sessions courts to
appoint mediators (lawyers) to give mediation a try before formal admission of a case for
further action. There are several laws for formal Alternate Dispute Resolution35
in practice.
The Punjab and KP governments have also adopted the concept of Musalihat Anjuman, Insaf
Committees and Jirgas at UC level, for amicable settlement of disputes in the latest
legislation on local bodies. But this part of the study, deals with peoples, general awareness
about other bodies, organizations, institutions and program that are working on conflict
and dispute resolution and social cohesion at the local level. The question was raised at the
FGDs. The findings are listed below:
In KP, UNDP’s Gender Justice through Musalihat e Anjuman was one of the forums
through which conflict and dispute resolutions were resolved. That program is now
closed (Males FGD, Abbotabad, KP).
Omer Asghar Khan Foundation and Sangi are developing social cohesion and helping
us resolve disputes (Females FGD, Abbotabad, KP). But some women (mistakenly) in
this FGD counted Women Crisis Center as one of the institutions doing the same.
There are Jirgas and Musalihat Anjumans resolving disputes and conflicts. There is no
other body to our knowledge (Males, D.I. Khan, KP).
We don’t know about any other organizations, except SPO that have created groups
on conflict/dispute resolution (Females, D.I. Khan, KP).
There are Jirgas and Musalihat Anjumans which resolve disputes and conflicts in our
district. (Males, Charsadda, KP).
35
I) Arbitration Act 1940: Under the Act, disputes of civil and commercial nature are resolved through the medium of
arbitration, ii) Conciliation Courts Ordinance, 1961: The Ordinance creates special courts for conciliatory settlements of the
disputes at local level, iii) Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961/Family Courts Act, 1964: These laws suggest informal ways
and means for the resolution of disputes of mostly matrimonial nature, iv) Section 89-A of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908
read with Order X Rule 1-A: It empowers the court to adopt any form of ADR to settle disputes subject to the consent of all
concerned parties, v) The Small Claims and Minor Offences Courts Ordinance, 2002: The Ordinance provides for amicable
settlement of disputes by various informal means including conciliation, mediation or arbitration
Page | 46
There is no program or organization working on dispute and conflict resolution except
local political elites who mediate (Females, Charsadda, KP).
CPLC is working in our district. There is an organization, Aurat Foundation, which is
doing something on this. But we don’t know much about it (Females, Sargodha, the
Punjab).
CPLC is working in our district. Tangh Wasaeb is an NGO that works for peace
(Males, Sargodha, the Punjab).
At UC level, Musalihat e Anjuman used to work. There was also a Public Safety
Commission at the district level but that was inefficient. Now, there is no other
organization/body (Males, Chakwal, the Punjab).
There are no social or other organizations working on dispute and conflict resolution.
But such organizations should be formed in which men and women should work
together (Females, Chakwal, Punjab).
There is a body that CDC formed in the district, known as Zilai Peace Forum, for
dispute resolution. It has many members. They also have aman (peace) committees
functioning in villages and other areas. Minorities and women are also their members
(Males, Bahawalpur, Punjab).
There must be very few organizations like CDC. CDS has formed committees for
peace. But these committees, we heard, don’t have a legal backing (Females,
Bahawalpur, Punjab).
The FGDs largely inform us that people, at the district level, have some understanding about
the work of NGOs, but the challenge is how adequate and right information about programs
reaches the village/settlement/neighborhood people, especially women who are hardly literate
or illiterate. The FGD at Chakwal put forth a very interesting finding. Chakwal is not an
AAWAZ program district (not at the time when this study was conducted). In the FGD,
women stressed the need of their inclusion in conflict and dispute resolution
Page | 47
bodies/organizations because they felt that they had the capacity to make contributions
toward this end.
7 Women, Youths and Minorities in Dispute and Conflict Resolution
The inclusion of women, youths and religious and ethnic minorities in dispute and conflict
resolution has a strategic dimension of giving equality, peace, tolerance and democracy a
chance. It gives added value and sustainability to peace.
This study put specific questions to the respondents and key informants on local perceptions
and practices of women, youth and religious and ethnic minorities’ inclusion in the processes
of dispute and conflict resolution. We also asked about the utility of capacity development
programs in this respect.
IFT asked the communities as to who could be the best mediator, from among elder
women, elder men or any wise man or woman, in order to analyze the gender related
perceptions of communities and understanding of the construction of gender roles. The
construction of traditional gender roles appears to be more conservative in KP as compared to
that of the Punjab as evident in Graph 11.
Within the Punjab, women, however, spoke in favor of “A Wise Man or a Woman” in
contrast to the men whose preference was “Elder Man” as the best mediator for dispute and
Page | 48
conflict resolution. This means that women were more confident about their role as
mediators.
In KP, “The Elder Woman” is only one female’s preference while the majority, particularly
among males thought that the Elder Man is the best mediator. Almost half of the female
respondents in KP favored “Wise Man or Woman” too as compared to males who did not
think that an Elder Woman can be the best mediator at all.
Graph 12 reinforces the same from a different angle. The question for this graph was as to
when or in which types of dispute/conflict resolution efforts women participate. We see
that women’s
presence in third
party intervention in
KP and the Punjab is
invisible. It
illustrates that their
presence in and
control over the
public sphere is
almost negligible.
We found only one woman giving an answer in the affirmative in the Punjab, in Graph 12,
which could be possible in rural communities where elders/mothers have more social roles to
play. At the same time, however, we see that women are playing some role in resolution of
family level disputes and conflicts.
The bar about “Never” illustrates that women don’t participate in conflict and dispute
resolution, irrespective of their spheres, i.e., household or communal.
On the next level,
this study asked the
respondents
whether male and
Page | 49
female members of the youth are included in dispute and conflict resolution in the
communities. Graph 13 presents the trends.
In the Punjab and KP, trends generally show that youths are part of dispute and conflict
resolution efforts, though the quality, level and frequency of their participation may be
questioned.
In the Punjab, however, there is a visible contradiction between the responses of males and
females. Females have a conservative view of the participation of youth.
In KP, the respondents qualified their response by further explaining that only male youths
were part of the dispute and conflict resolution efforts. IFT was able to analyze this because
the surveyors had made this assertion in the relevant section. And in the nutshell, we see a lot
of room available with respect to the participation of youth, of males and females, in dispute
and conflict resolution processes.
In the same section of the study, a question was asked whether religious minorities should
be included in dispute and conflict resolution processes.
The findings of the study
reveal that a majority of
male respondents in the
Punjab support the idea
whereas in KP, males
don’t. Graph 14
illustrates this trend.
The female respondent
in the Punjab are also conservative in regard to the religious minorities’ participation. The
situation is, however, opposite in KP where some female respondents were found in favor of
religious minorities’ inclusion in dispute and conflict resolution.
About 17 % female respondents in KP were unclear as to whether religious minorities must
be included or not.
Page | 50
IFT put the question of
inclusion from a different
angle. We asked
whether the
respondents think that
deprived communities /
sections should be
included in the process
of dispute and conflict resolution.
Graph 15 indicates the shift in opinion visibly as compared to the findings of Graph 14.
Whereas some female respondents in KP and the Punjab did not favor the idea or they were
unclear whether deprived communities must be included or not (in KP), a striking majority of
the respondents both in KP and the Punjab was clearly in favor of inclusion.
We may safely infer from the above findings that the notion of “deprived community” in
communities is different than that of the civil society organizations. The notion of the
communities does not seem to be too inclusive in its nature when it is about inclusion of
religious minorities. It may also be possible that respondents viewed themselves as “deprived
communities” and wished to be part of local decision making for peace building and social
cohesion themselves.
IFT asked two questions in FGDs to understand and correlate the findings as stated above.
The first question was whether the participants of the FGDs can give any example of
inclusion of a member of religious minority in any local Jirga/Panchayat. The second
question was whether they thought that inclusion of women and members of religious
minorities can be helpful for dispute and conflict resolution processes.
As for the example of inclusion of religious minorities in local Panchayat/Jirga, no such
practice was identified in FGD. It is pertinent to note that the groups identified for the FGDs
were relatively educated and informed.
Page | 51
To the second question, whether communities thought that inclusion of women and members
of religious minorities could be helpful for dispute and conflict resolution processes, the
following are key statements:
Table 4: Is the inclusion of Women and Members of Religious Minorities
Helpful for Dispute and Conflict Resolution?
Males Females
D.I. Khan, KP
Women and marginalized groups’
participation is helpful because they know
their problems better.
Women should be part of the dispute and
conflict resolution.
Charsadda, KP
It is never possible because it is against the
Pakhtun traditions.
It can be helpful because women can present
women’s perspective in a better way. Men
and influential people should be sensitized
about this.
Abbotabad, KP
Some males were of the view that women
and religious minorities should participate
in Panchayat/Jirga when disputes and
conflicts are about them. Some of them did
not think that it was a good idea because
“women don’t know what the best is”.
Women should participate in Jirgas because
they are emotional and therefore they think
from “heart”. That’s why they don’t want
feuds to escalate and peace to prevail. As
women drive very carefully, so will they
resolve disputes and conflicts very carefully,
in Jirgas.
Page | 52
Chakwal, Punjab
Our system and traditions don’t allow. Islam
has set clear limits both for women and
religious minorities. Whosoever crosses the
limit, God will inflict a loss on them.
Women are very good decision maker. Their
participation is very essential. Men are
intolerant and they have inflated egos.
Sargodha, Punjab
Women’s participation is very helpful
because they understand women’s issue
better. Similarly, religious minorities should
participate in resolution of their own
disputes.
Women should have women-specific
Panchayats because otherwise no one listens
to them.
At Bahawalpur, there were two FGDs held, one with females and other with males and
females both. The FGD held with both males and females identified that participants stressed
the importance of women functioning as mediators, saying they should have their own
village-level committees that help them to be a part of decision-making in general and dispute
resolution in particular. They found it to be important because women understand their
problems better than men. They were of the opinion that they will gain more confidence
while speaking up for their rights in society. The members of women- specific FGD also felt
that women and marginalized groups’ participation was helpful for them.
If we analyze the statements, taken from the FGDs carefully, we find however that the
participants, largely, agreed on inclusion of women in Jirgas and Panchayats that are held on
matters/disputes/conflicts related to them only. But beyond that, as general practice, they did
not see their role. Similarly, they also did not see religious minorities as equal stakeholders.
This puts a greater challenge to organizations in the civil society, to work on social inclusion,
peace building, and harmony and conflict and dispute resolution.
Page | 53
8 Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations are being made:
In view of the frequency and impact of the disputes and conflicts, we can do some
ranking. Inter-personal and family related conflict would outnumber the bigger
conflict like sectarianism. The nature of most of the inter-personal conflict is local and
about money, relationships and property. Therefore recommend utilising existing
conflict resolution mechanism and strengthening them further for local order and
stability.
Comprehensive awareness, training and advocacy campaigns must be designed, in
simple language, and carried out jointly by all stakeholders, including NGOs,
government, media and religious clergy, on:
o Family laws (children’s custody, Nikkah, divorce, inheritance, etc.)
o Women’s Right to Mobility and Social Mobility
o Prevention of Women From Harassment at Workplace Act (2010), Prevention
of Anti-Women Practices Criminal Law Amendment Bill (2012), Amendment
to the Pakistan Penal Code Section 509 (Sexual Harassment) and The Acid
Control and Acid Crime Prevention Bill (2010)
o Psycho-Physical and Emotional Impact of Early Childhood Marriages
o Tolerance / Hate Speech / Social Harmony (national and International
commitments)
o Land and Revenue related Laws (illegal transfer of land/property, agricultural
land and irrigation related issues),
o Musalihat e Anjumans
o Psychosocial impact of Violence on Women and Children
o Conflict and Security Mapping (including early warning indicators)36
o Citizens Police Liaison Committee
As a result of the awareness, disputes and conflicts may arise. Therefore, the study
recommends that skills be provided at the community level on mediation, conflict/
36
Examples may be had from Women Action for Peace and Non-Violence Training Manual, and Illustrated Booklet, published by Insan Foundation Trust, 2012
Page | 54
dispute resolution and negotiation. Our findings suggest that people at the local level
are willing to get training and education on dispute and conflict resolution, mediation
both in KP and the Punjab.
In the training material we recommend that religious excerpts from Islam, Christianity
and Hinduism with a focus on peace, tolerance and harmony (and other religions) be
included. In a religious society like ours, religious message for peace building will
have greater appeal than any other idea.
We suggest that the mediation and conflict resolution training must be inclusive. It
must include women, religious and ethnic minorities. Skills and confidence will
involve them in the process of conflict resolution as members of the society may think
of them having knowledge and expertise. They may also be trusted by the members of
their respective social groups.
Since women of the household are gravely impacted by the disputes and conflicts,
they must be encouraged and empowered through education and information to play a
greater role in dispute resolution, starting with positive influence over the male
members. Conflicts put their financial survival, honor and dignity at risk. Such fears
make them more concerned about conflicts. Women can therefore be the focal point
of local mobilization and advocacy for social cohesion and peace building. The same
insecurities of females in different communities may be discussed with males too so
that they start realizing that women and girls are even greater stakeholders in dispute
and conflict resolution and that they will also make gains with peace building and
women’s inclusion in such processes.
Traders and business communities are important stakeholders at the local and district
level and they have immense potential to contribute to harmony and peace building
activities. The challenge is to transform their business-centered narrow way of
thinking to play a greater role in the society and toward larger and collective interests
of peace and social stability. Actually they may be reminded that conflicts hurt their
business interests more than any other section of the community. Another important
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aspect of our effort to make positive use of this well-organized community to make
them see a link between philanthropy and social harmony.
Youth as the future citizen must be educated about civic responsibility and awareness
about the wide range of disputes and conflicts in the society that waste resources, time
and even lives. For the purpose of establishing order and peace on long-term basis we
recommend that youth organizations at the local level be encouraged to be part of
awareness and mobilization campaigns at school, college and university level.
We find local mechanism of conflict resolution like pannchayt and jirga have been
practiced for centuries. New forms like local mediation councils and committees have
also emerged during the past several decades. Local knowledge and experience can be
utilized more effectively. However they need to be strengthened and augmented
where it is needed and further improvised in the light of modern skills and knowledge
about conflict resolution and mediation.
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Name of the Surveyor Date Time Name of the Respondent Name of his/her Village/Neighborhood/Settlement Clan/Caste of the Respondent District Phone No
9 Annexes
Survey Questionnaire
Note: Questionnaire for male and female respondents were printed and used separately. In
order to manage space, however, both questionnaires have been put together here.
1 Which types of disputes and conflicts take place in your community? Tick the
relevant:
Clannish Property related Sectarian/Religious
Ethnic Political Others
2 Do you think that disputes and conflicts in your community take place more
frequently now than before?
Yes No Do Not Know
3 How do you resolve familial dispute/conflict?
Sitting together and discussing amongst the family Through Third Party
4 Which of the following are working in your community to resolve
disputes/conflicts?
Police Station Jirga/Panchayat Musalihat e Anjuman NGO(s)
Others
5 When do women participate in the process of dispute/conflict resolution?
When elders of the family/clan try to resolve the dispute/conflict themselves
When there is an intervention from third party
Never
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6 Are male and female youths included in dispute/conflict resolution in your
community?
Yes No Do Not Know
7 Who could be the best mediator in your view?
Elder Female Elder Male Any Wise Male or Female
8 Have you ever pre-empted any of the following disputes/conflicts?
Clannish Ethnic/Sectarian Interpersonal None
(Please develop a case study if any evidence is found in this regard)
9 Do you have awareness of the family laws?
Yes No
To
Some
Extent
1 Children’s Custody
2 Maintenance
3 Nikkah
4 Inheritance
5 Divorce
10 Do you think that mobile phones can be helpful in creating awareness about
different laws?
Yes No Do Not Know
11 How do you acquire information regarding laws related to property?
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Lawyer Patwari NGO Friend/Family Member/Acquaintance
Other
12 Do you think members of religious minorities should also be included in the
process of dispute and conflict resolution?
Yes No Do Not Know
13 Do you think deprived sections should also be included in the process of dispute
and conflict resolution?
Yes No Do Not Know
14 Do you think such training can be helpful that enables people to resolve their
disputes/conflicts peacefully?
Yes No Do Not Know
15 What do males/females do when a family/clan’s dispute/conflict is likely to take
place?
Try to cool the situation off Don’t intervene/Let the dispute/conflict take place
Hide out of fear Team up to fight
Gather likeminded men/women of the community/street and try to diffuse the tension
16 Do you have an early warning of a dispute/conflict that you smell from the
prevalent situation?
Yes No To Some Extent
17 If yes for the question no. 16, which indicators help you reach at the conclusion
that a dispute/conflict is going to take place?
1 2 3 4
18 What impacts do you see on women in case of conflict/dispute?
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Questionnaire of the Key Informant Interviews
Questionnaire for the Retired Civil Judge/Lawyer
1 Which type of disputes/conflicts mostly take place with respect to family laws in your
district, and are reported?
2 Do you think that disputes and conflicts in your district take place more frequently
now?
3 Is there any system in place that sensitizes and educates women about family laws? If
no, would you recommend such a system to be developed?
4 Which skills do you consider are imperative for people, especially for women, to
learn in order to be able to resolve disputes/conflicts? Do you think that those people
of your district have those skills? If no, which could be the best way to impart those
skills to them?
5 Do you think that lawyers’ training on mediation (in different legal provisions) can be
helpful in resolving disputes/conflicts?
Questionnaire for the Representative of Traders’ Association
1 Do you think that sectarian/religious conflict negatively impact business/trade? If yes,
please explain how?
2 How did the Traders’ Association support communal harmony? If no, what it can do?
3 To whom does your Association mostly give charity?
4 Do you give charity with a considered view that the money you gave will be used for
interfaith harmony, or do you just give it for God’s blessings?
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Questionnaire for the District Administration
1 Which system do you have to inform you of tribal and/or sectarian/ethnic conflicts in
advance? Is that system effective? What changes do you propose in that?
2 Which skills do you consider are imperative for people, especially for women, to
learn in order to be able to resolve disputes/conflicts? Do you think that those people
of your district have those skills? If no, which could be the best way to impart those
skills to them?
3 Do you think that such a training that enables people to resolve disputes/conflicts
peacefully can be helpful?
4 Do you think that awareness among people about law helps curtail the occurrence of
disputes/conflicts? If yes, do you see any role of your department?
5 Can you suggest any departmental tasks/roles performing which helps resolution of
disputes and conflicts?
Questionnaire for the Focus Group Discussions
1 In your view, what are the reasons for disputes/conflicts in your district?
2 Which three of the following rank high in terms of occurrence?
Familial/Clannish Property Political Sectarian Religious
3 How are these conflicts/disputes resolved?
4 What impact do disputes/conflicts cast on women and other marginalized groups?
5 Can you quote any example in your district that Jirga/Panchayat included any
individual from a religious minority group or a woman as its member?
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6 Do you think that inclusion of women and members of religious minorities can be
helpful in the process of conflict/dispute resolution? If yes, how so? And If no, why
not?
7 Do you think that peoples’ training on conflict resolution will help resolve
disputes/conflicts peacefully? How?
8 Are there are any NGO/civil society organizations working in your area on conflict
resolution? Do you have any example of any such program or organization?