"MyEarly Life", by WinstonChurchill.Eland, pounds 9.99
WinstonChurchill on peacekeeping among the Pathans
WinstonChurchill, who fought on theAfghan border in 1897, warned of the dangers of peacekeeping among the Pathans, and of mixing politics and war
(46)"EXCEPT at harvest-time, when self-preservation enjoins a temporary truce, the Pathan tribes are always engaged in private or public war.Every man is a warrior, a politician and a theologian.Every large house is a real feudal fortress...with battlements, turrets [and] drawbridges.Every village has its defence.Every family cultivates its vendetta; every clan, its feuD、
"The numerous tribes and combinations of tribes all have their accounts to settle with one another. Nothing is ever forgotten, and very few debts are left unpaiD、..(47)The life of the Pathan is thus full of interest; and his valleys, nourished alike by endless sunshine and abundant water, are fertile enough to yield with little labour the modest material requirements of a sparse population.
"Into this happy world the nineteenth century brought two new facts: the breech-loading rifle and theBritish government. The first was an enormous luxury and blessing; the second an unmitigated nuisance. The convenience of the breech-loading, and still more of the magazine rifle, was nowhere more appreciated than in the Indian highlands.(48)A、weapon which would kill with accuracy at fifteen hundred yards opened a whole new vista of delights to every family or clan which could acquire it. One could actually remain in one's own house and fire at one's neighbour nearly a mile away...
"The action of theBritish government on the other hand was entirely unsatisfactory. The great organising, advancing, absorbing power to the southward seemed to be little better than a monstrous spoil-sport.
"No one would have minded these expeditions if they had simply come, had a fight and then gone away again...But towards the end of the nineteenth century these intruders began to make roads through many of the valleys...All along the road people were expected to keep quiet, not to shoot one another, and, above all, not to shoot at travellers along the roaD、(49)It was too much to ask, and a whole series of quarrels took their origin from this source...
"The Political Officers who accompanied the force...were very unpopular with the army officers...(50)They were accused of the grievous crime of 'shilly-shallying', which being interpreted means doing everything you possibly can before you shoot. We had with us a very brilliant political officer...who was much disliked because he always stopped military operations. Just when we were looking forward to having a splendid fight and all the guns were loaded and everyone keyed up, [he] would come along and put a stop to it."