Foreword by Professor Akbar S Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, American University, Washington, DC Waziristan has been declared the most dangerous place on earth and the next major attack on Europe and America will be planned here. To fight terrorism we need to know the people, the area and why they plan to attack Europeans and Americans. The book takes us inside the hearts and minds of the tribal people, their code of Pushtunwali, their culture and livelihood. The tribal areas have been in war for the last thirty years, this is the only book written by a tribesman, who grew up in Waziristan and who holds an important administrative post in the self governing Tribal areas. Why did such noble people convert into terrorism on a major scale? How much has the area suffered at the hands of terrorism or has it been a boon to local leaders and their followers? How has their way of life, which evolved over thousands of years, come under threat and from whom? Khan argues that British and Pakistani policies that denied or discouraged modernization have come to haunt policymakers and peacemakers alike. There is little firsthand account of tribal society after Sir Olaf Caroe, James Spain and Akbar S Ahmed. Dr Khan discusses and analyses the tribesmen, giving an insight into how they conduct their affairs and survive in such a brutally harsh and hostile environment. By introducing their way of life, he have made the tribesmen more accessible to those interested in the security and development of the region. Khan discusses his native village, once beautiful and peaceful, and how it has changed radically for the worse in the last decade. Why and how did such noble people go bad? What is the solution to terrorism? What is the way forward for the world? Khan belongs to Waziristan, he has no sympathy for foreign terrorists nor for those of his clan who have joined the jihad. Waziris have suffered the most yet are blamed the most. A hill culture which evolved over thousands of years is being replaced by Arab Bedouin culture in the name of a pitiless variety of imported Islam and a furtive consumer culture aligned towards India and China. G.Q. Khan’s study speaks from the heart but also from his experience in the higher echelons of government and in the wider world of scholarship and social science.
