Fata reforms

The Fata reforms recommended by the government, while far from perfect, represented a serious attempt to bring the tribal areas under the protection of the constitution and do away with its ‘special’ status. Under the plan devised by the Fata reforms committee, the tribal areas would merge with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the notorious Frontier Crimes Regulation would be phased out over a period of five years. Now it looks like the reforms may be shelved before they are even considered and voted on by parliament. The sticking point appears to be money. To provide Fata with the funds it needs to successfully integrate with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa means adding it to the NFC award formula. The government wants all the provinces to agree to a four percent cut from their divisible pool. Two percent would go to Fata and one percent each to Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir. The provinces, which cannot even agree on a new NFC award among themselves, are likely to be united in opposing this.

The argument provided by the provinces is that Fata is a federal subject and such the money should come out of existing federal finances rather than being made part of the NFC. This line of reasoning is specious since the entire point of merging Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is to remove it from federal control. Until it is fully integrated, though, it will still need money in addition to the Annual Development Programme it receives from the federal government. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the entire country owes a huge debt to the people of Fata. They have suffered more under militancy than anyone else and when the military operation was launched it was they who had to abandon their homes and flee. Even then, most of the provinces did not welcome the IDPs and viewed them suspiciously as potential militants. They were herded into camps and to this day many are awaiting the money to return home and rebuild their houses. It would be short-sighted and selfish to deny them money they fully deserve. Ever since independence, Fata has been treated differently – and in this case ‘differently’ means ‘worse’ – than the rest of the country. They have had to be ruled by bureaucrats sent from Islamabad and suffered through archaic collective punishment laws. Fata has never had the protection of the courts and, until recently, party-based representation in Parliament. The reform package aims to change that for the better and the least the provinces can do is not stand in the way of the people of Fata.