Fata reforms

The National Action Plan, back when it was devised in 2014, was not meant to concentrate only on military operations and law enforcement. There was an understanding that any permanent solution to the militancy problem had to be all-encompassing and address the alienation of those living in the tribal areas. Belatedly, the government has finally addressed that issue and come up with a list of reforms for Fata. The proposals, which will be debated by parliament starting next month, will integrate Fata into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over five years and replace the Frontier Crimes Regulation with a Tribal Areas Rewaj Act for that period, which would still allow jirgas to be used to resolve disputes. The Fata reforms are a mixed bag. First, the positives. Fata has existed in a constitutional grey area since Independence and this new package will bring some clarity. Under the constitution right now, Fata is considered a part of Pakistan but sub-clauses place it under the direct executive authority of the president. That has meant residents of Fata have been deprived of basic constitutional protections like the right to a trial in the mainstream judicial process. The archaic FCR, which was devised by the colonial British in 1901, further eroded those rights by allowing for collective punishment. The reforms would change that, at least after the five-year interim. The interim period is needed because once Fata is finally under the same laws as the rest of the country it will need to change many procedures. Right now, land in the tribal areas is owned collectively by the tribes and not individuals. The jirgas will be needed to settle inevitable land disputes.

There are some questions that will need to be discussed in the future. Even though Fata will be integrated into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the question of local government still has to be settled, although it is encouraging that the reforms agree that there should be local representation. Fata should also be made a part of the debate over the National Finance Commission Award rather than be given a set amount by the executive. There is reason to be sceptical that all these issues will be ironed out in a way that treats the residents in a fair manner. Even the commission meant to devise the constitutional status of Fata continued the long tradition of ignoring the opinion of those whose future is being discussed. Not a single member of the commission was from Fata itself and the only representative from KP was the governor. Given that the chief minister will play an outsized role in Fata affairs if the package is passed, he should have been included and, above all, the desires of Fata’s population should have been an overriding factor. There is criticism that Fata will stay under the authority of the president rather than parliament and that the Rewaj Act is a continuation of the FCR in new packaging. It is also worrying that the reforms package used an outdated estimate of Fata’s population, one which has been thoroughly disproven by the sheer number of IDPs. The worry is that this could be used to deny its people sufficient representation both at the local and national level. The Fata reforms should be about doing right by its people, not what’s convenient for the rest of the country.