William Golding’s Lord of the Flies tells the story of a group of boys stranded on a remote island. With no adult guidance, they struggle to govern themselves. One tries to build a democracy, another becomes fixated on hunting, while others lose their sense of purpose altogether. The novel highlights how quickly structure can collapse without leadership, vision, or unity.

Now imagine replacing the conch shell with a jirga tent, and the British schoolboys with Pashtun nationalists. The similarities are thought-provoking: an absence of cohesive leadership, weakening institutions, and a community caught between deep-rooted tribal traditions and the demands of a fast-changing world. But unlike Golding’s story, this is not fiction—it is a longstanding and evolving political reality.

In Lord of the Flies, the character Ralph eventually loses control as his priorities shift and the group fractures. Pashtun nationalist politics, at times, echo this breakdown—not due to lack of vision, but perhaps a lack of strategic focus. While the rhetoric is often powerful and emotionally resonant, it sometimes lacks concrete, actionable........

© The Spine Times