I read the original article years ago and have now read this blog. The problem is, it's wrong.
The fact is that the Faqir was defeated. He could barely muster any men by the middle of 1939. During the war years, precisely the time
he could have taken advantage of Britain, he was unable to stir the Waziris to any resistance. Recruiting for the British Indian Army went exponential. The number of incidents against the British and the border units fell to practically nil from February 1941 until 1947 when the British left.
Hauner was simply inaccurate because he had not done the archival work. Trevor Warren wrote the best account, now sadly out of print.
The key point is that the Waziris, especially tribal elders, dissuaded young Waziris from joining the Faqir and his band. he was regarded as a troublemaker. Waziris had more sense than to take on the British on a permanent basis.
On these grounds, the Pakistan Army is NOT about to make the
same mistake at all, and history does not, contrary to popular mythology, repeat itself.
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