Pakistan took the bold step of merging FATA with KP. Thus, there will be no more suffering on the hands of black regulation of FCR. After a long delay of more than 118 years, finally, on May 31, 2018, people of erstwhile FATA were included into the junction of streamlined citizens of Pakistan. Whereby, they can access the high court, supreme court and even Sharia court, like other franchised citizens of Pakistan. Previously, they were restricted to a one-man empire called the political agent, the all-in-all who composed orders not laws, directives not process and justified his way of punishments; either repressive or rewarding. Anyhow, in some cases, the people of erstwhile FATA used to approach the Malakand Commissioner in Swat in case if they were residents of the then Bajaur Agency and Peshawar Commissioner if they belonged to Khyber and Mohmand Agencies. People from North and South Waziristan could approach commissioners Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan respectively. Meanwhile, the people of Kurram and Aorakzai agencies were given access to the Commissioner of Kohat. Further, if the filing party was strong enough, it could move its case to the FATA tribunal, stationed at Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These were not fixed in the air but brought up into application after successful approval in the upper circles of the then British ruled India. The history is not as latest as how some authors linked it with the year 1901. Its essence could be traced back as early as 1840 when the British commanders started collecting data about the Pashtun from the forces hired from Indian origin in the state of Rajasthan, which was brought in Sindh and Punjab. They were told that Pashtuns were not easy to control without repressive laws. This approach of repressive punishment was applied after the killing of Viceroy Lord Mayo on February 8, 1872, by Sher Ali Afridi, an inhabitant of Khyber Agency. In 1887, Nushki and Chaghi districts abrogated the independent status of Qalat Khanate in Baluchistan province and came under the umbrella of FCR. However, formally, the term FCR was utilised by the British for the first time in 1901, when the expansion of the FCR was stretched to the then NWFP and all tribal regions, including some areas of Punjab, to strengthen their power bridles in this strategically fenced part of the subcontinent. After ten years of independence, the current KP province got rid of FCR in 1956 on the occasion of the first approved constitution of Pakistan. Similarly, after 26 years, the province of Baluchistan was also freed from the same black regulation. However, the FATA was still the prey of the black regulation. Under Article 1 (2) of the constitution of Pakistan, FATA was considered a genuine part of the state of Pakistan. However, under article 247(A), no political will, or freedom was given to the people of the tribal region. Thus, there was an atmosphere of uncertainty in the tribal belt. This laid a phenomenon of instability in all the Frontier Regions (FRs) and seven agencies of FATA bordering with Afghanistan. It also established nurseries of terrorism and extremism; yielding radical mindsets. Pakistan took benefits of those mindsets in the early cold war against the invading Russia in Afghanistan. However, the aftermath pushed the country to an unending security turmoil soon after the withdrawal of USSR from Afghanistan. Sardar Daoud took charge of the war-torn country but could not sustain for a long time. Taliban assassinated him and took control of Kabul. The effects of Taliban era could not be restricted to Kabul and showed its shadows in the tribal belt of Pakistan as well. Thus, the epoch of that radical mindset compelled Pakistan Army to combat against the miscreants in FATA by launching military operations in different parts of FATA. As a result, the livelihood graph of people living in tribal areas was pushed faraway than the tribal communities living in other countries on the planet. Finally, after a prolonged gap of 118 years, FATA was merged with KP to let the tribesmen entertain the rights of freedom and access to equal justice. Although our neighbouring Muslim country, Afghanistan, showed some reaction over the decision of being the geographical complainant of pre-Durand Line treaty between Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, Pakistan took the bold step of merging FATA with KP. Thus, there will be no more suffering on the hand of black regulation of FCR. The state acknowledged the eternal demand of marginalised people of FATA. The merger of FATA was also criticised by India, the conventional opponent of Pakistan, which has a rivalry with Pakistan on every forum. India has backed the stance of Afghanistan over controversial geographical claims from River Ammo to Attock. However, recently, it took an inhuman action of scrapping article 370 and revoking the autonomous status of Jammu & Kashmir. The history of Kashmir is also full of grievance and complexity. The literary existence of the State of Kashmir could be tallied with the first Anglo-Sikh war of 1846. The history is not as latest as how some authors linked it with the year 1901. Its essence could be traced back as early as 1840 when the British commanders started collecting data about the Pashtun from the forces hired from Indian origin in the state of Rajasthan, which was brought in Sindh and Punjab The then East India Company snatched Jammu, Ladakh and Gilgit-Baltistan of Kashmir from Sikhs, and sold to Raja Gulab Singh Jamwal of Jammu in exchange of amount 75,000,000 in Nanakshahee currency. In 1947, after the withdrawal of British rulers from India, Hari Singh Nalwa, the then commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Fauj, the army of the Sikh Empire, decided to remain neutral and independent. No doubt, from the very beginning, Pakistan had respect for the people of Kashmir to live independently and in the atmosphere of freedom. Hari Singh Nalwa was a brutal and cruel face of the Khalsa army in the reign of Gulab Singh Jamwal. Looking at his historical notorious character, Pakistan was worried about the majority Muslim population in Kashmir. That’s why, on October 26, 1947, the tribesmen–the indigenous population famous for sacrifices and bravery–living on the western border of Pakistan with Afghanistan, had to come forward for the help of their Muslim brothers and sisters in Kashmir by attacking the Khalsa Army of the empire. Hari Singh approached the Indian government for military help on the cost of signing a testimonial called “Instrument of accession.” In January 1948, the hypocrite leadership of the then Indian government took the issue to the UN and accused Pakistan as responsible for the forceful occupation of some territories of Kashmir. The UN suggested the plebiscite of Kashmiri people to resolve this dispute. Later, after a delay of two years, on January 26, 1950, India gave Jammu & Kashmir a special status of autonomy under article 370 of the Indian constitution. The embezzled Indian government was still in doubt of its hypocrisy in the valley because the Muslim majority was not happy with the brutal presence of the Indian army on their soil. As a result, the then prime minister of Kashmir, Sheikh Abdullah, was arrested on the charge of plotting a conspiracy against the Indian government and his government was thrown away. Sheikh was jailed for 11 years. On May 14, 1954, the Indian government introduced article 35-A through a presidential order, which paved the way for the Indian government to put its trolls inside Kashmir valley for serving Indian interests in the valley. In this context, in November 1956, the Indian trolls (some traitor local political figures of Kashmir) passed a constitution for the state of Kashmir by declaring Kashmir an integral part of India. In 1962, India came in direct combat with China, and, thus, surrendered easternmost part, Aksai chin, of Kashmir to China as a result of the shameful defeat. In 1965, amendments were made in the state’s constitution (1956), by replacing the position of Prime Minister with Chief Minister. India had used many tactics to force Kashmiris to withdraw their slogan of self-determination. For this purpose, the Indian military extended tool of violence and targeted followers of every religion, including the original pundits. Due to this barbaric role of Indian military in 1989, a large number of pundits were forced to flee from the valley. Later on, this mass displacement was politicised by the Indian government by holding the Kashmiri freedom fighters responsible. In 1990, Armed Force Special Powers Act (AFSPA) was reinstated in Indian-occupied Kashmir (IOK), which empowered the military to lift anyone; detain anyone; take anyone anywhere for an unknown period and punish in any way without ground evidence of crime and investigation. Thus, the barbaric occupant Indian forces released mountains of cruelties over the innocent Kashmiris. On the other side, Pakistan had given full freedom to Kashmiris in Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Kashmiris in the Pakistani-administered Kashmir have an independent assembly, prime minister and president. Comparing the merger of FATA to the constitution matrix of Pakistan with the abrogation of the special autonomous status of Kashmir by India shows visible differences. The majority of the people of FATA are Muslims so there is no issue of religious imposition because Islam is the state religion of Pakistan. Secondly, people of FATA speak the same language (Pashto) as the people of the absorbent province, KP, speak. Thirdly, tribesmen of FATA were loyal to the government of Pakistan and had not raised weapons against it as openly as the people of Kashmir are forced to raise against the invaded regime. Fourthly, the merger of FATA has received huge appreciation from the international community, the UN, the European Union, the OIC and human rights organisations. While on the other side, the repeal of the autonomous status of Jammu & Kashmir by the Modi-led Indian government has brought severe criticism to the so-called biggest secular democracy of Asia. The ground reality for India to include Jammu & Kashmir to her geographical territory is opposite on the following basis. First, the majority of the Kashmiri population is Muslim and culturally different than the statistically multi-cultured and intolerant society of India. Secondly, India is continuously trying to impose her hegemony on the people of Kashmir, which contrasts with the philosophy of unification. Thirdly, India has transplanted fake dooms of democracy and raised selected political goons by running an exhibitory election in the valley. Fourthly, the role of India in the occupied valley has always been criticised in different segments inside India and also on the international level. The recent example of such criticism can be seen in the reactions of the international community over the abrogation of the special autonomous status of Kashmir so far. Some statements have favoured India’s stand. These include the statement of UAE’s ambassador in New Delhi and the first reaction from the Russian President Vladimir Putin. While the US reacted between a yes and no to back stance of Pakistan, KSA’s complete silence over this latest development on Kashmir depicted the vague side of Pakistan’s foreign policy. However, the notorious blackface of Indian so-called secular democracy has become very evident before the world that the secularity of Gandhi Jee, Ambedkar and Nehru’s era no more exists in Indian politics. The state of India has gone far away from its secular ethics and is run by the dominant Hindu caste at the cost of stifling Hindu sub-castes and other minorities, particularly the Muslims and Sikhs, with walls. The Indian authorities are teasing Muslims and Sikhs in all walks of life. Their political leadership is continuously being harassed on every platform, even in the state’s assembly and lower house (Lok Sabha) and upper house (Raj Sabha). According to many experts, these are the signs of the destruction of Indian democracy. The writer is an Islamabad-based journalist