Peace in Kurram?

After the loss of over 150 lives, the tragic sectarian-tribal violence that has plagued the Kurram District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the past several months might finally be coming to an end. The Grand Peace Jirga constituted by the KP government has finally succeeded in convincing both parties to sign a peace agreement on Wednesday (January 1) after holding several sessions in Kohat, KP. According to some of the key points of the peace agreement, all parties will surrender heavy weapons to the government, construction of new bunkers will be prohibited, existing bunkers must be demolished within a month and any party launching an offensive after the bunker demolitions will be declared a terrorist. Families displaced by the violence will be resettled as per the 2008 Murree Agreement, which will be implemented in full. Travel routes will also be secured, additional security personnel will be deployed and providing any refuge or assistance to terrorists will also be considered a crime. Apart from unwinding the current conflict, the agreement also includes provisions aimed at stopping a recurrence of sectarian-tribal conflicts in the region. Parties will be prohibited from taking the law into their own hands in case of any ‘unpleasant incident’ and, if a conflict does arise between two villages, the peace committee of neighbouring villages will mediate. If local elders are unable to settle a dispute, the Kurram Grand Peace Jirga will step in.

By all appearances, the agreement signed in Kohat provides a solid foundation for long-term peace, provided that it is implemented in letter and spirit. This is arguably what did not happen with previous accords, like the 2008 Murree Agreement, allowing violence and conflict in Kurram to keep resurfacing over the years. With this in mind, it is encouraging to read reports that two Frontier Constabulary platoons have already being deployed to the region for security and that the recruitment of 400 police personnel has already been approved to secure the Kurram highway. In 2024, the outbreak of violence was so severe that, aside from the killing itself, the subsequent shut down of roads leading into the area reportedly led to a widespread shortage of essential medicines.

It would also be wrong to type-cast the conflict as a Kurram or KP problem. Indeed, the sectarian nature of the regional clashes made them a national problem, prompting sit-ins in both Peshawar and Karachi. A Pakistan desperately seeking economic stability, investment and development simply cannot afford to have an entire district swallowed by violence and almost cut-off from the rest of the country. Nor can a country as diverse as ours afford to become a ground for clashes between different communities. Pluralism and inter-communal harmony are not just desirable but the only way forward for Pakistan. It is also worth noting that the 2024 Kurram clashes coincided with an overall deterioration in the security situation, with terror once again resurgent, and a fractured national political scene. The chief minister of KP often seems more involved with leading marches on Islamabad instead of actually governing his province while the federal government struggles to deal with the decline in law and order. In this sense, the fractures in Kurram seem like a microcosm of bigger national fissures that are compromising the state’s ability to do its job effectively. While the Kurram violence might be over for now, long-term stability in Pakistan will require more unified and cohesive leadership going forward.