BRIGANDS OF AFGHANISTAN.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 18762, 29 December 1930, Page 4

BRIGANDS OF AFGHANISTAN.

SCATTERED MOUNTAIN CLANS. MOSCOW INFLUENCES APPARENT. Abdul Qadir Khan, in the course of a recent article in “The Times,” wrote: Since King Nadir ascended the Afghan Throne in October, 1929, after his victorious campaign against the usurper Bacha-i-Sakao, he has worked hard, in spite of bad health, to reorganise the country, a task of immense difficulty. The King has had the loyal support of the southern and eastern tribes, who were so opposed to Amanullah’s schemes of westernisation, and now even the northern tribes of Kohistan, who supported Bacha-i-Sarao, offer no oppos- ' ition. Nadir Shah was careful to , respect the feelings of this religious population, and to restore the privileges of the mullahs, who played such a determining role between the central power and the tribes. Naturally, the rising of the northwest frontier excited great interest among the tribes of Afghanistan. The Pathans of the independent territory are of the same stock as the population of Peshawar and the surrounding area, and on the other side have the closest racial and religious connections with the tribes in Afghan territory. King Nadir has taken strong measures to discourage the Afghan tribes on the border from joining the adventurers of Mohmand, Afridi and other scattered clans of the mountains who have been skirmishing in British territory. He has successfully used his prestige among all these sister tribes, even out of his own land, and has urged them to settle their grievances against the British Government in a friendly spirit. However, after the riots of ! Peshawar in April, it was easy for ' Congress extremists to excite the racial | feelings of the neighbouring Moslem I tribes, and to incite them, through the I fanatical mullahs, to carry on a | “Djihad,” or Holy War, against the I “Kaffirs” (the unfaithful), and to ! avenge the victims of the repression. I It is possible to detect Soviet in- ! fluences behind the scenes, at least in ! the tactics of the “Red Shirts,” whose j leaders have closely copied the methods of Moscow. Whether the programme of these propagandists in trying to utilise the traditional fighting power of the Pathans in order to embarrass the Indian Government corresponds genuinely with the racial and national aspirations of the j Pathans is still uncertain. Among the | most enlightened people of the northwest frontier the feeling is predominant that their real interest, as Moslems and as kinsmen of the Afghans, is not to play the game of the Hindu oligarchy, but to preserve their own national traditions. When the tribal rising had upset the borderland the Afghan Government summoned most of the tribal chiefs and priests, including the famous Mullah of Chaknawar. and Badshah Ghul, son of the famous Haji of Turangazi, to visit Kabul, and has made every effort to warn them of the imprudence of interfering in the internal affairs of the Indian Government. The King shrewdly discourages any influx of Russians. Nadir Shah knows well that the para--1 mount interest of his country is to be linked with the progressive and scien- ! tifle world of the West, and he knows. I too, that the fundamental principles . of the Soviets are really hostile to Is--1 lamic culture and traditions. In sum, LNadir Shah is pursuing a policy of moderation with success.