Shortcuts for Fata

The news about merging terrorism-stricken Fata with crisis-ridden Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is rather unwelcome. Presumably, it is highly unlikely that KPKwould earnestly take into consideration the multifaceted issues of Fata and resolve them owing to its own burgeoning multidimensional problems, which still remain unresolved.
Such imprudent political decisions have become the order of the day in Pakistan. Affluent law-makers living in lavishly designed lodges in scenic Islamabad have grown used to turning a blind eye to the lingering miseries of the neglected people of places such as Fata. These politicians are also predisposed towards taking short cuts to discard highly important national issue. If this ill-crafted way forward is hurriedly implemented, it will soon backfire while menacingly aggravating Fata’s constitutional predicament.
Fata’s real issues are multidimensional. First, it is lagging far behind in terms of education. Unfortunately, it does not have a single university, and its literacy rate is around 22 percent which is well below the nation-wide rate of 56 percent. Alarmingly, according to a report issued by the Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness (SFEA), literacy rate among women in tribal areas is low and stagnant at a mere three percent. The report concludes the factors hampering the process of education as inaccessibility to schools, poor quality of education, low retention rate, militancy, displacements and custom and traditions prevalent in those areas.
Second, Fata is also faced with some formidable political issues. According to Articles 51, 59 and 247 of the 1973 Constitution, it is represented in the National Assembly with 12 seats and in the Senate with eight members, but remains under the direct executive authority of the president. It is administered by the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as an agent to the president of Pakistan. The administrative head of each tribal agency is the political agent who represents the president of Pakistan and the governor of KP. It is highly astonishing that laws framed by the National Assembly do not apply there, unless ordered by the president.
Furthermore, each Frontier Region is administered by a deputy commissioner (DC) of the respective settled district, who exercises the same powers in the FR as the political agent does in a tribal agency. The politics is chiefly monopolised by men because cultural, traditional and social practices have kept Fata’s women in a highly vulnerable position while excluding them from decision-making. Resultantly, Maliks and sardars with considerable wealth and lands bear sway on the unworkable administration — which is bound to result in widespread corruption, mismanagement, nepotism and misappropriation of large sums of money.
Third, persistent economic deprivation has pushed the tribal people towards terrorist or militant outfits to acquire money so as to make the ends meet for their families. Despite being home to 2.4 percent of Pakistan’s population, it makes up only 1.5 percent of the country’s economy with per capita income of only $663 in 2010. According to a study, 60 percent of the area’s population is living below the poverty line; with unemployment rate ranging between 60 percent and 80 percent.
As par available statistics, only seven percent of the total land of Fata is cultivable, while the remaining 93 percent of the land is dry, mountainous and unproductive. Of this cultivable land only three percent is irrigated whereas the remaining is totally dependent on rain. Most of the land belongs to the local Khans and Maliks and more than 50 percent of the people have no agricultural land.
Last, Fata has also been deprived of having the same legal system as the rest of Pakistan enjoys. The jurisdictions of the Supreme Court and Peshawar High Court do not extend to Fata. All civil and criminal cases are decided under the FCR by a jirga (council of elders). Due to the unchecked discretionary power placed in the hands of the jirga and consequent gross human rights violations, the draconian FCR has come to be known as the ‘black law’. It is unfortunate that British colonial law has been in force since 1948. No doubt, this outmoded law has been frequently employed under the sway of big landlords to take harsh revenge and settle political vendetta.
It is important to resolve these long-lasting issues cautiously. To begin with, it is imperative to make Fata an administrative unit governed by the people living there. Moreover, it should be provided with local bodies composed of their own elected representatives so that power is transferred from the few elites to the masses at the grassroots level. Also, adequate qualitative educational institutions should be built calculated to equip the youth with modern education and technical skills.
Over and above, the government should take serious steps to regularise Fata’s economy, and connect tribal areas by rail and road to the rest of the country via the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Since the area contains commercially viable natural resources, the process of industrialisation through a policy of public/private partnership would help tap, exploit and capitalise on these resources, thereby providing immense employment opportunities and economic benefits. For sustainable good governance, transparency, responsibility, accountability, participation and responsiveness ought to be ensured. The obstructive FCR should also be done away with as soon as possible and replaced by the common law of the country.
Equally important, since Fata is a major centre for opium trafficking and the disruptive smuggling of other contraband, stringent actions must be taken to hinder this big source of funding to the terrorists, and responsible persons linked to this trade should be brought to book.
According to John Seeley, “Democracy is a sort of government in which all and sundry have their due share”. The people of Fata need this democratic share in terms of guaranteed educational, political, economic and legal rights, but not by unwise actions of the government. If these required reforms are not introduced in the said area, terrorism and militancy will insidiously continue to haunt the region.
The writer is an independent researcher based in Karachi. Email: ayazahmed6666@gmail.com
Twitter: @ayazahmed66665