Abstract
This paper examines how and to what extent the violent conflict in the
North Waziristan Tribal District of Pakistan distorted the traditional
social structure, which embodies the informal social institutions of
Jirga and Hujra. This violent conflict between 2004 and 2014 has
appeared as one of the most urgent and crucial humanitarian and
development concerns for Pakistan where the whole region was under
the siege of Talibanization and government was completely absent
until the launch of military operation Zarb-e-Azb in June 2014 against
the Taliban. Several studies have been conducted so far on the causes
and consequences of this violent conflict, but most of these studies
focused on the political dimensions even though the significant
volatility of the region in recent times should be investigated
empirically. This study adopted qualitative methodological and
interpretive approaches to collect primary data from the study area.
The study finds that the informal institutions like Jirga (council of
elders), and Hujra (common male guesthouse) were being the prime
targets of both the Taliban and security forces during the violent
conflict. Moreover, the jirgawas used as a source of fund-raising by the
Taliban groups in North Waziristan. Resultantly, these institutions lost
its centuries-old traditional structure and underwent significant
transformations.
