BAJAUR Because of their families’ traditional hold of natural resources, most importantly land, the Khans of Bajaurs have dominated the electoral politics of Bajaur for decades. Though the region has yet to see any organised political effort from the hitherto (politically) marginalised groups, the frustration among the educated middle classes of Bajaur with respect to the Khans’ strangehold is palpable. Some among this group are channelising this frustration and making efforts in their individual capacity to fight the traditional power structure. Maghaz Khan, 27, an MPhil scholar at the Islamic International University Islamabad, is a case in point. He says he is convincing people in his area to vote for parties, instead of candidates. “This will strenghten democracy,” he says. Himself a victim of the draconian Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), Maghaz maintains that with the merger of the formerly Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP), the region needs to build on its gains. “I will vote for a political party that was actively involved in the FATA reforms,” he says. Maghaz’s budding career of journalism had been cut short after a report he did exposing the plight of the families left shelterless and without any aid from the authorities in a a massive earthquake in Bajaur in 2015. On finding out about the report, he recalls, the political administration took him as well as his brother and father, thanks to the FCR, into custody. Maghaz says he was tortured in detention, and later his career was ruined by the authorities who pressured his employers to end his contract. Bajaur has a population of about a million people, of whom 492,732, are registered to vote in NA40 and NA41. In 2008, the area was hit by a worse episode of militancy. Most of the civic infrastructure was destroyed by supporters of the firebrand cleric who headed the Bajaur chapter of the TTP, Maulana Faqeer Mohammad. Voting was conducted only in the headquarters, because of the poor writ of the state in the adjoining areas. The two seats were won by Akhunzada Chittan (NA-41) and Shaukat Ullah Khan (NA-40), who was made the governor of KP by the outgoing government of the Pakistan Peoples Party in 2013. In 2013, Shuakat Ullah Khan’s father Bismillah Khan contested as an independent in his place, winning NA 40 by securing 13,929 votes. The runner up was Zaffar Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in an election where the turnout was 32 percent. In NA-41, independent Shahabudin Khan of the PML-N secured 14,900 votes against Jamaate Islami’s Sardar Khan (3,000 votes). I n NA 41, Shahabudin Khan is contesting as an independent candidate, owing to differences with the N League over FATA reforms. Other prominent contenders are Qari Majeed of JI, Gul Zaffar Khan of PTI, Akhunzada Chittan of PPP and Malik Gul Zada of ANP. In NA 40, Shaukat Ullah Khan has returned to the electoral race. Others include the JI candidate who was the runnerup in 2013, Sardar Khan, Gul Dad Khan of PTI, Gul Afzal of ANP, and Akhunzada Chittan of PPP. For 2018 electoral race in NA 41, Shahabudin Khan is contesting as an independent candidate, owing to differences with the N League over FATA reforms. Other prominent contenders are Qari Majeed of JI, Gul Zaffar Khan of PTI, Akhunzada Chittan of PPP and Malik Gul Zada of ANP. In NA 40, Shaukat Ullah Khan has returned to the electoral race. Others include the JI candidate who was the runnerup in 2013, Sardar Khan, Gul Dad Khan of PTI, Gul Afzal of ANP, and Akhunzada Chittan of PPP. Speaking to Daily Times, Anwar Ullah Khan, who has been observing the elections for foreign media outlet since 2002, says that the islamist JI has a history of undertaken development works in the area. He says that in 2002 JI’s Sahib Zada Haroon Rashid got elected on the MMA platform and undertook several civic works, including upgrades for the headquarter hospital, construction of a sports complex, roads and several other projects. During the military operation, and later when earthquake and floods struck, the JI’s Al-Khidmat Foundation led relief and rehabilitation efforts. “Shahabuddin Khan, Akhundzada Chittan as well as Bismillah Jan were in Islamabad or Peshawar all that time,” he says, adding that the JI also benefits from the relatively conservative nature of the electorate, particularly those residing in areas bordering Dir, where JI has won seats. Maghaz says that the former MNAs had nothing to their credit except for the FATA reforms bill. “They only refer to the merger in all their political gatherings. The roads made by Khans are only good for the residents of their own villages. They cannot highlight a single mega development project they have undertaken for the constituency,” he says. Because of the grip of the influential families, women have been kept out of the electoral process in Bajaur in the past, says Anwar Ullah Khan, adding that tribes have been deciding the fate of their women voters at the whims of the Khans. Fazal-e-Malik, a native of Bajaur, is a PHD scholar in an Islamabad-based university. He says he voted for the PTI in 2013 but the party’s overall performance in the last five years had left him disenchanted. “I voted for PTI because it said that it will make the country free of corruption in 90 days. I gave them 180 days but nothing transpired,” he says, adding that the party had shifted from the political centre to the right-wing with its conservative positions on most crucial issues. Regarding the former MNAs, he echoed others concerns that no mega projects were undertaken in education and health. “The few smallscale projects started by them only benefitted their chosen ones,” he says. Referring to the former MNAs taking credit for FATA reforms, he says, “We could have accepted his claim had the PML-N not delayed the merger. Everyone knows who was behind the fasttracking of the merger process eventually,” he says. Samar Ali, another university student, refers to the clashes in Bajaur over land rights between the Khans and persecuted farming communities, and says that the Khans had blood on their hands. “They encroached upon the land of the people in collusion with government functionaries,” he says, adding that two degree colleges had been approved for the district but no work could be started on them because the Khans insisted that the colleges would be built on their lands in farflung areas. Published in Daily Times, July 15th 2018.