The Role of the British Political Officer on the North West Frontier

[pakphile]

There is a huge literature on this subject. You can start with the originators of the tradition with just these names in Google or Wikipedia: Henry Lawrence, John Nicholson (there is an oblisk erected to his memory outside Islamabad), Herbert Edwardes (Edwardes College Peshawar), James Abbot (Abbotabad, NWFP), John Jacob (Jacobabad, Sindh). Also, early outfits like Hodson's Horse, Daly's Horse, Coke's Rifles, Jacob’s Horse, Lumsden's Corps of Guides.

Three famous ones from post-1857 years are John Lawrence (rose from tax collector to Viceroy), Robert Sanderman (creator of the concept 'hearts and minds' in the 1880s), Francis Younghusband (invader of Tibet and Political Agent in Gilgit and Kashmir).

These are good secondary sources:
Allen, Charles, Soldier Sahibs, John Murray, 2000.
Allen, Charles. God’s Terrorists. Little, Brown, 2006.
Loyn, David, Butcher and Bolt, Hutchinson, 2008.

Allen is a historian, Loyn is a journalist (BBC South Asia correspondent). Both have a good selection of primary sources in their biblio.

Most of the district gazetteers were written by British political agents and commissioners. Many are still available. But don’t look to these folks as guides to improved governance. Their purpose from 1757 to 1947 was plain and simple: protect the state and its profits. Their successors in Pakistan continued that tradition up to 2002 in the settled areas, but remain in the tribal belt using the British Frontier Crimes Regulation as their tool to bludgeon anyone they want. You can find a similar framework of collectors, commissioners, political agents in nearly all of the former British colonies. This institution has mostly retarded democratic growth, particularly local governance, everywhere it was planted.

By the way, Sanderman's 'hearts and minds' amongst the Baloch was created precisely to counter the 'butcher and bolt' policies that 'Henry Lawrence's Young Men' started with the Pashtun, particularly as practiced in Waziristan and Swat. Heard of those places lately? It seems neither tactics nor strategy have changed much in more than a century, so what have we learned?

[aborgu]

One recent article that may be of interest is:

Christian Tripodi, “Peacemaking through bribes or cultural empathy? The political officer and Britain's strategy towards the North-West Frontier, 1901-1945, Journal of Strategic Studies, Volume 31, Issue 1 February 2008 , pages 123 - 151

[George L. Singleton]

During my two years in then West Pakistan, based on visits I made to Swat. then ruled by a carried over Raj era family principality, good progress was being made from the grass roots up: schools and colleges for boys and girls; light industry; good agriculture; tourism among the best in the world; great fishing and hunting; mountaineering.

What pulled Swat backward then and now was extremist religious practices and views. The benevolent, albiet non-democratic rulers were eventually pushed out, the necessity to keep a semblance of law and order came about, and coerced Sharia in it's most extreme forms reached it's apex today, and is now being resisted by the local tribes people who are being murdered at worship, Mulims murdering Muslims, while at mosque services, Sunnis attacking Shias.

Too, Christians, while a minority in Swat, had a peaceful coexistance until this era of the Taliban and al Qaida.

I have acquaintances today from Swat who are highly successful as professionals (MDs, recent Harvard Law graduate, etc.) who hate and want an end to the use of extremist religion/terrorism to try to take an unwilling people down to neolothic barbarism.

Terrorists and al Qaida hiding behind the good name of Islam are now being fought vigorously by the several tribes within Swat and this is most welcome. They are fed up and enough is enough bloodshed by the terrorists.

By the way, Sanderman's 'hearts and minds' amongst the Baloch was created precisely to counter the 'butcher and bolt' policies that 'Henry Lawrence's Young Men' started with the Pashtun, particularly as practiced in Waziristan and Swat. Heard of those places lately? It seems neither tactics nor strategy have changed much in more than a century, so what have we learned?

Basic freedoms involve the haves and the have nots, but social and religious issue of helping the have nots improve their lot is life is opposed by the terrorists, who fight progress to keep the people, the have nots, in economic subjigation in "the name of radical terrorism" which they try to "smoke screen" as religion.

The grass roots have to have basic freedoms and be allowed to practice moderate Islam, too.