positions they hold in the tribal areas rather than worrying about developing the area.
The difficulties faced by tribesmen are unbelievable for people in the other parts of the country. They cannot believe that a part of Pakistan is still governed under the inhuman and un-Islamic laws of the Frontier Crime Regulation which keep the people aloof from the rest of the world.
People in other parts of the country have political rights and enjoy freedom of expression. They can protest, if they so desire, against policies that are not in consonance with their interest. The people of Fata are not so fortunate. They neither have such rights nor are political activities allowed in that area. Same is the case with holding public protests and demonstrations. Speaking strictly legally, even the prime minister cannot open a political party office unless the president amends the FCR or else the political agent will be within his right to arrest the chief executive.
This is why there are no protests and agitations against drone attacks or the injustices meted out to the people by the authorities in that area. What a place – where adult franchise is allowed but political parties are banned; where the draconian laws of the FCR are allowed but civil laws of the land are banned; where the army is allowed but politicians are banned.
The government does not seem willing to develop Fata or else it would have paid some attention to educating the people, if nothing else, which in turn could have helped the people come out of the enslavement they have long been forced into. There is not a single university in the area nor is there a hospital worth the name where the sick or seriously wounded – an expected consequence of the ongoing conflict – could get proper medical treatment.
The question that comes to one’s mind is: Where does the money which is sanctioned every year for Fata actually go? Or the aid regularly provided by foreign countries? Funds are provided to political agents in the seven tribal agencies by the Fata Secretariat directly controlled by the governor. These funds are then distributed through hand-picked Maliks in the shape of various developmental schemes but mostly on paper only. The supposed digging of thousands of wells all over Fata which should have inundated that area three times over by now is a case in point. The rest of the funds are ‘taken care of’ by awarding contracts for schools and medical dispensaries to the Maliks who, after completion of the projects, use them as guest houses or even as farms. Having taken their share in cash in advance, the political agents turn a blind eye to the “proper” use of these buildings.
It would be unfair not to mention the role that the print and electronic media played during all these long years of turmoil in Fata. The media failed to give due coverage to the killing of innocent people in the area in a manner that it did in Karachi and other major cities of the country. It failed to cover the tragedies that befell the people of Fata rendering millions of people homeless ‘refugees’ in their own country.
Had it played the role that it did elsewhere in the country, its coverage could have corrected wrong perceptions about Fata. It hardly mentions the capabilities of the people and the services that they rendered for the good of the country. In TV talk shows and other local and international conferences Fata is not given its due share of representation.
Other people are given preference over people of the tribal areas. One is not denying the right of others to talk about Fata but their knowledge is based on experiences of guarded and guided tours to the area or reading of a few books on Fata. They do not have firsthand experience or in-depth knowledge of the area as the sons of the soil do.
These problems gets further compounded when one looks at the role played by the ruling class (governor down to political agent) in the tribal areas since the creation of this country. This class cannot absolve itself of its responsibilities. It was sheer selfishness and negligence on its part that made Fata hostage to poverty, illiteracy and now militancy.
Eight years of fighting in the area are long enough to learn important lessons. We have yet to learn what exactly our government officials have learnt in this period but one thing is clear – the government has failed to achieve the declared objective of purging the area of militants. It has also failed in opening roads for traffic that have been closed since the launching of military operations. The ill-conceived policies that it pursues have turned the area into a battle ground. Wasn’t the menace of poverty and illiteracy enough of a curse that it also launched military operations in that area? Hasn’t that further compounded the problem? Hasn’t that made life more difficult for the people than it was during the colonial days?
Though a lot of water has flown under the bridge, it is still not too late to take corrective measures if the government is serious about solving the problems that the people face in that region. Enough experiments have been conducted by people who do not belong to that area. They have ruined Fata enough. Let us put an end to the old, failed practices so as to avoid arriving at a point of no return.
Let Fata become a province so that its people can rule themselves. They know better than anyone else what steps to take and when to take them in order to set things right. They alone can solve the problems faced in Fata. Let us provide them the help and assistance that the Quaid once promised to them.
The writer is a former ambassador hailing from Fata. Email: waziruk hotmail.com