7 - The establishments of political parties

Summary

After the insurrection, the local members of the resistance sent delegations to Peshawar or to Iran to get arms for the various parties. It was necessary to belong to a party, mainly for logistical support in negotiating aid from outside and organising supply networks. A party made it possible to hope that the traditional segmentation of society might be overcome. It could also be represented politically in the outside world, which would be quite impossible if the resistance was no more than an aggregation of warring fronts. In a word, a party provided access to the political arena. At the same time, the ideology of the jihad, which is always dominant in Afghanistan in time of war whatever the sociological structures, brought to the forefront feelings of identity of purpose and unity amongst members of the resistance. For the peasant population and the traditionalist ʿulama, neither of whom are influenced by Islamist ideology, the party is a way of giving visible reality to the umma: to belong is to refuse to accept the divisions within society and to affirm unity. Nevertheless, while one may accept the fact that it is necessary to belong to a party, the choice of party remains unexplained. Knowing that the Afghans have not much interest in ideology, one might think that the choice of party is a pragmatic decision: you belong to the group which provides you with weapons.