For all its talk about finally giving the people of Fata equal rights and protection under the constitution, the PML-N government has spent precious little of its political capital to actually bring about long overdue change. The Fata reforms package, imperfect as it was, at least started the process of merging Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and gradually eliminating the Frontier Crimes Regulation. But even that minimum progress has been stalled as the PML-N preferred to appease its JUI-F and PkMAP allies, both of whom are staunchly opposed to the reforms package. The problem with the reforms was that it was driven from the top, with the needs and wishes of those who live in Fata given little importance. Now the government seems to have recognised that there is a grassroots effort to secure rights that the government won’t give to Fata. Following a visit to North Waziristan, along with Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has told the National Assembly that the reforms package must be implemented before the government’s term ends on May 31.
Should it follow through, this would finally represent real progress. Despite all the promises the government has made, action on the ground has been slow in coming. So far, the only part of the reforms package that has been implemented is bringing Fata under the jurisdiction of regular courts. It would be understandable if Fata’s residents are still sceptical about the intentions of the government. Should it be genuine in its conviction, however, there are few obstacles in the way of the government. The Fata reforms package already has the support of most parties in parliament; and the JUI-F’s opposition to it is purely born of political ambition. The party has a negligible support base in Fata and knows that merging it with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will likely reduce its power in the province. Even if the PML-N feels it needs the JUI-F’s support in the next elections, it needs to convince the party not to break the coalition over reforms in Fata. The people of Fata have suffered decades of repression and years of war. They have been stereotyped as terrorists and made to feel unwelcome in the rest of the country when they had to flee their suffering. The centre owes it to them to finally treat them as equal citizens in the country they call home.