FRONTIER FRIENDS AND FOES

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 115, 14 May 1908, Page 4

FRONTIER FRIENDS AND FOES

. Perhaps the most striking proof of British ascendancy that the struggle now progressing oh the North-West Frontier has yet produced is the fact that the Afridas have remained true, to their .pledged word, and have refused, to east in; their lot with the tribes now.' in arms against us. - When we consider the position in which these wild mountaineers' stand in relation to our frontier policy, the wonder is not that they are fre-

quen'tly engaged in' fighting us, "but that they ever settle down in peace. ' In the first~place we*"have""to remember that to men of- Pa than blood, the- one pursuit that makes life worth • living is war-. " Every influence, every motive .that pro-' yokes the spirit of murder among men impels these, mountaineers to deeds of treachery and. violence. This strong aboriginal propensity, to kill, inherent in.all human beings, has in these valleys been preserved in unexampled strength and vigour. That religion -which above all others was founded and propagated by the sword stimulates a wild .and merciless fanaticism. The lore of plunder; always a characteristic.of wild tribes, is fostered by the spectacle of opulence and • luxury which to their eyes the cities and plains of the South display. A code of :honour not less punctilious than that of old Spain is. supported by vendettas, as implacable as those of Corsica." The inevitable outcome of these conditions has been that existence on the Frontier is to the mountaineers a prolonged state of war, that life is held cheaply, and that the- chief diversion and the chosen - pursuit of the Pathans and Afridis is the shedding of blood. It is indeed difficult to imagine what "attractions peace can present to Pathan eyes, or by what expedients these savage hill then-can-be induced to accept an " inglorious- ease"" ■which robs them of the most absorbing .excitement, and the most genuine satisfaction they are capable of- feeling.

But even after allowing for all-this, we must admit that there are special reasons .why the Afridis should hesitate to. Keep "faith with the British at the present" juncture. The Afridis, it is true, have pledged their honour to keep, the peace on -the Frontier,' and more especially to bold the Khyber against any attacK from the North. But now that the Mohmands are in arms against us, the Afridis are being called upon to fight, against their' brethren in blood and faith. "On the one side are accumulated all the forces of fanaticism, patriotism, and natural tiesOn the other military associations stand alone." -.When the Pathan is invited to suppress his fellow countrymen (we.quote: from Mr. Winston Churchill's graphic narrative of the Malakand expedition) ; '"he finds himself in a situation at which, in the words of Burke, ' morality is perplexed, and reason is staggered, and from which affrighted . nature recoils.'" The truth, of course, is that it would be the most natural course for the Afridis to .take to join with the Mohmands in resisting our advance. . A distinguished officer of the famous Guides, who has led loyal Pathans many times' in action once remarked that personally he could not blame the Afridis for dteser.ti.ng .and defending their own country, or fighting by the side of the men of their own race; and he thought it only natural and proper that they should feel inclined to do Of course, such sympathy would not prevent any British officer from exacting punishment for tneachery or breach of faith. But the Afridis themselves would certainly take this.in good part. It has been well said that on the Frontier men fight without passion, and kill one another without loss of temper. But it is all the more wonderful that the combined tact arid, firmness . displayed) by British soldiers and officials in dealing with these ferocious tribes have produced upon them so profound an impression that, for the sake of the faith they have pledged to-"the Sirkar," the Afridis can be persuaded to forget the claims of kinship,, faith and country, and. to. foreo-o the_ delights, of warfare, and bloodhhed to which their natures so powerfully and instinctively respond.