Who is holding back the FATA merger?

Who were forced to leave their homes? The people of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

Who died in the line of fire? The people of FATA.

Who did the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) make slaves out of? The people of FATA.

Imran Khan was never affected by the FCR. Neither was Siraj ul Haq nor Asfandyar Wali Khan nor Mian Nawaz Sharif nor Asif Ali Zardari. The parliamentarians from the tribal areas also did not suffer the injustices meted out by a black law, in fact these men were the beneficiaries of an unequal system.

It took a while. But it has now finally happened. The younger generation of FATA is standing up and raising their voices loud enough to be heard. They demand an end to the FCR and a merger of the tribal areas with the developed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. And as the pressure builds, for the first time, in a very long time, the political parties have come together to support the cause, the military leadership is changing its views and the members of the national assembly and senators from the semi-autonomous region can no longer oppose the merger.

Even after being elected for the third time, the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whose party still rules the center, has not done any service to the cause. He appointed a party loyalist, Mamnoon Hussain, to the office of president. As per the constitution, Hussain has legislative powers over FATA, an area where Pakistan’s armed forces are fighting for the country’s defense against terrorists and an area where the country’s enemies are funding proxies. Yet, despite being the sole guardian, the president has not visited the region once in his four-year term. This is primarily why I spoke up against Hussain’s elevation to the office. It should have instead been Sartaj Aziz or Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, both of whom at least have an understanding of the tribal areas demographics and core issues.

I was once invited to a reception by the president. There I told him very candidly that just as Shehbaz Sharif was the chief executive of the Punjab province and Pervez Khattak was of Pakhtunkhwa, he held a similar position in regards to FATA. And while the two mentioned provinces are dependent on their provincial assemblies to legislate, the president had no such restrictions. He could change the laws of the tribal areas at will. When I further questioned his decision to not tour the area, he pointed to the military secretary sitting next to him. He said he had wanted to go, but people stopped him. They tell him that the security situation is still not conducive to visits. I was not convinced. “If you cannot visit Waziristan, I understand. But you can at least try to go to Mohmand, Bajaur and Khyber Agency, where the unrest is now completely under control,” I had said.

He then promised that he would, before he moved on to another topic.

Just as I was about to leave, he brought out a pen and paper to note down the names of the areas I had mentioned. I have to admit that I left very disappointed. Even more so as there was a will under this administration to correct the wrongs done to the people of FATA. The PML-N government created a reforms committee, led by Sartaj Aziz, that recommended the immediate merger of the tribal belt. The cabinet promptly approved it. But the draft is now gathering dust in the parliament. During this process, the only man who did not comment on the committee’s suggestions was, you guessed it right, President Mamnoon Hussain.

Then there are those who support a do-nothing approach. Mualana Fazlur Rehman and Mahmood Khan Achakzai are content with the way things are. They would rather see FATA in the hands of a man from Karachi, than someone from the tribes.

When changes to the 18th amendment were being drafted, Rehman was then sitting next to Zardari. (Today, he has grabbed a chair next to Sharif). Back then, when the PPP was in power, Rehman did not once suggest that FATA be given the status of a separate province. As for Achakzai, his party was part of the committee inking the amendment yet he chose to remain silent. A FATA lawmaker, Haji Munir Khan Orakzai, who is now in the JUI-F camp, was also sitting in on the committee meetings, as he was the head of the tribal representatives in the parliament. No demands for separate status came from him either. Hence, there was only one alteration made in the final draft in regards to FATA. From then on, the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would only be appointed from the province, and not from the tribal belt. Now the KP governor is the de facto chief executive of FATA, which is why this was an unfortunate change. Since the 18th amendment now dictates that a governor can only be from KP.

Leaders like Rehman and Achkzai have done a disservice to the people of FATA. And they are yet again delaying the passing of the committee’s suggestions.

A large number of the tribal people want a merger with their neighbouring province. A resolution signed by 19 representatives from FATA was part of Sartaj Aziz’s reform report. Interestingly, the KP assembly has also passed a resolution favouring the union. The political parties are supporting it. And now too is the military. The only ones who would not want this historic step to be taken are hostile foreign agencies, who would rather have this land remain out of the bounds of the constitution to continue using it as a launching pad for its proxies.

To be clear, this does not mean that I doubt the patriotism of Rehman and Achakzai.

At the moment, an estimated 50 percent of the tribal families are already living in KP, either in makeshift camps or otherwise. They are already visiting KP’s hospitals and sending their children to the schools and universities in the province. While, members of the Afridi, Mohmand and Wazir tribes are being elevated to the parliament and other senior positions in the KP. Take the province’s Inspector General, for instance. He is from the Mehsud tribe. The Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court is an Afridi from the tribal belt.

For now, there are few possibilities of FATA being made an independent province in the near future. Which leaves the space open for hatred to be created amongst the residents of KP against the people of the tribal belt. Those living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa might ask why their resources are being used by people who do not want to become a part of them? Or why are they being administered by someone from FATA?

Similarly, the tribes will also need to decide if their provincial capital would be Bajaur, a city in the extreme north, or Waziristan, in the extreme south? In the last five years FATA’s representatives were not able to do much for the establishment of an already-approved university in their area, which is now being constructed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. How, one wonders, can they be expected to decide on something as important as choosing the capital city?