The state has a responsibility to give satisfactory and justifiable answers to the questions being raised by the locals of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). There is no family from the tribal region which has not lost a beloved member or suffered significant financial losses. These are wounds which time cannot heal. They have suffered at the hands of terrorists — both ‘good’ and ‘bad’, attacks from abroad such as drone attacks, and have even been a part of the ‘collateral damage’ of our own army’s operations in their homeland. The state must also explain the numerous missing person’s cases from FATA. I wrote the aforementioned few lines with all possible punctuation. But, the tribal people speak without any comma or full stop about the atrocities they have suffered over the decades. Two parliamentarians were on my television talk show. They remained quite composed on the camera, but they were quite blunt off the camera. The opening paragraph is the moderate crux of the off camera conversation. Both parliamentarians had strong reservations on complete media blackout of the protests carried out by the Pakhtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) that is also known as Pakhtun Protection Movement. The Pakhtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), formerly known as the Mahsud Tahaffuz Movement (MTM), is a social movement demanding human rights for the Pakhtuns of Pakistan. The movement originally started in 2014 to demand the removal of land mines from Waziristan. It later rose to prominence in January 2018 when aspiring model and shopkeeper Naqeebullah Mahsud was killed in Karachi by the ‘encounter specialist’ police officer Rao Anwar. Following the heinous crime, the PTM protested against Naqeebullah’s murder very strongly, and now have launched a movement for the rights of Pakhtuns in FATA, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Karachi and Balochistan. Many FATA elders believe that the state is answerable to the questions being raised by the PTM. They also believe that the complete media blackout of the PTM protests is on the directions of this country’s strong military establishment and other undemocratic forces. When people are deprived of their rights and their voices are not heard, it creates unavoidable chaos, and the situation goes out of control The state can kill the protesting Pakhtuns, but cannot silence their voices. Though according to the official state narratives Zarb-e-Azb has ‘cleansed’ FATA of terrorism, but in truth the insurgency has only been suppressed. Peace will not come to FATA until its locals are provided with the solace they want and need. Lets not forget, the epicentre of America’s ‘Jihad’ against the Soviet Union was in FATA, and it was the people of this region who sacrificed their lives and land for the American cause. Despite their sacrifices and suffering, the promises of rehabilitation of the tribal Pakhtuns largely remained unfulfilled. A special package of Rs 100 billion was announced last year for FATA, but it is not clear how much they received. A few initiatives were taken up by the military. The question is if they are sufficient. Now once again the government has announced Rs 100 billion special package for them. Who will ensure the dissemination of funds? What is it that keeps the FATA reforms package from being implemented? Soon — but perhaps several decades too late —the Supreme and High courts’ jurisdiction may finally be extended to FATA territory. However, this is much less than what the tribal people were expecting. They opted to be a part of Pakistan decades back. We cannot give them the status of Pakistani while treating them as outsiders. Yet, the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remains in doldrums. Bravo. Lets not forget, the epicentre of America’s ‘Jihad’ against the Soviet Union was in FATA, and it was the people of this region who sacrificed their lives and land for the American cause Meanwhile, we do not even allow them to broadcast their grievances in the media. It seems we have learnt nothing from the fall of Dhaka in 1971. When people are deprived of their rights and their voices are not heard, it creates unavoidable chaos, and the situation goes out of control. How long the state can control the uncomfortable voices of the people? Certainly, they cannot stop them for very long. If there is any history of conquering the Pakhtuns or who would be able to do it. When the state fails to listen to dissenting voices, their rage spreads like a forest fire. The state can snub or kill dissidents all it likes, but their slogans will live for centuries. Bhagat Singh and Dullah Bhatti’s voices remain alive in Punjab today. They are an inspiration for all those who believe in the struggle against tyranny. Who can forget the Kashmiri freedom fighter Maqbool Bhat? A more recent example is Burhan Vani — who lives on in the hearts of the Kashmiris. It matters not whether he was a terrorist or not, what matters is that the Indian security forces turned him into a martyr. Pakistan was divided in 1971 primarily because it ignored the dissenting voices of a big chunk of its population. Instead of ensuring their rights and accepting their lawful and legitimate demands. Those who undermine the voices of the PTM need to recheck their strategies, and once again analyse the content of the speeches of the PTM leadership. The media blackout won’t serve the state objective. The state institutions should prepare itself for rational and truthful responses to their questions. That is the only viable way forward. The writer is an Islamabad-based policy advocacy, strategic communication and outreach expert. He can be reached at devcom.pakistan@gmail.com. He tweets @EmmayeSyed Published in Daily Times, May 4th 2018.