Browsing by Author "Suhail Shahzad"

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    ETHNIC DIVERSITY lN AFGHANISTAN: A CASE FOR FEDERALISM
    (AREA STUDY CENTRE (CENTRAL ASIA), UNIVERSITY OF PESHAWR, 2004) Suhail Shahzad
    In Afghanistan, the state building enterprise began by Amir Abdur Rehman Khan (r. 1880-1901) culminated into the 1964 constitution, seems to have created a sense of nationhood among the various groups making up the country. Despite the recent history of war and feud between various factions, there seems to be a consensus on preserving a united Afghanistan. This thesis attempts to examine the constitution making process in Afghanistan, especially in the context of relations between the central government and the periphery. If a constitution is “the soul of a nation”, as a South African scholar puts it, I am tempted to add that the constitution-making experience of a nation—the constitutional moment—is an occasion for a nation’s self-interrogation on its past, present and future. It is a rendezvous with destiny Successful constitutions are characterized by a capacity to strike a balance between the need to enshrine fundamental principles, on the one hand, and provisions for adaptation to changing circumstances, on the other. The latter includes the needs of achieving security and the developmental imperatives of a nation. One of the crucial questions that the drafters of a constitution face concerns the relationship between the central government and the regions and localities comprising the country. What degree of decentralization is granted to the regions is a matter to be determined in each case by the history and politics of each country. Thus, the present study advocating federalism in Afghanistan is divided into the following chapters: