Daily Times

“The Pashtun tribes are always engaged in private or public war. Every man is a warrior, a politician and a theologian. Every large house is a real feudal fortress….Every family cultivates its vendetta; every clan, its feud…. Nothing is ever forgotten and very few debts are left unpaid.”

(Winston Churchill)

The romance of the Wild West is the stuff of martial folklore of doughty American pioneers who expanded westwards pacifying such feral tribes as Apaches, Comanches Cheyennes and Sioux. The tribal badlands conjured up the sanguinary romanticism of battles like “Little Big Horn”, “Custer’s Last Stand”, “Wounded Knee”, and “Sand Creek Massacre” seared into the public imagination. The above battles however were no patch on another tribal belt straddling Pakistan and Afghanistan border called “Federally Administered Tribal Areas” (FATA). It is an area the size of Massachusetts i.e 27224 square kilometers. Comprising seven agencies i.e Mohmand, Bajaur, Khyber, Orakzai, Kurram, South Waziristan and North Waziristan it was an area inhabited by fiercely independent warrior tribes who lived in that area since antiquity as per their own moral and cultural code called “Pakhtunwali”.

During the British colonial era FATA was kept as a protective barrier along Mortimer Durand’s delineated international frontier buffer zone between the British India and Afghanistan. It was called “a prickly and untrimmed hedge between Rawalpindi and Kabul” by Sir Olaf Caroe, the last British governor of the old North West Frontier Province bordering FATA. The British had a different governance policy for FATA than the rest of the country. They pacified these independent tribes through a stick and carrot strategy by offering rewards as well as retribution for the desired behaviour. The areas were administered through special laws called “Frontier Crimes Regulations” which gave sweeping administrative as well as legal powers to administrators called “Political Agents (PAs)” to govern the region.

The law of the land was extended to FATA and the courts established along with conversion of erstwhile frontier levies into police

The British took special care to allow the tribes to live as per Pakhtunwali code and their own cultural practices called “Rewaj’. The local disputes were decided as per “Rewaj” by holding dispute resolving conclaves of elders called “Jirgas”, whose decision was binding in accordance with cultural norms. The seven agencies or districts having a population of 5 million were bound in a cultural unity sharing a tribal republicanism rooted in local socio-cultural practices. FATA historically was a violent place with the British Indian Army deployed there periodically to quell the tribal rebellions by refractory tribes. The special force permanently deployed in a series of fortress posts all along the frontier was called Frontier Corps. It was a paramilitary force comprising indigenous tribes that was officered by British. The regular army used to live in cantonments to sally out when necessary.

When British left and the two independent countries came into being Pakistan continued with the British traditions and administrative practices. The area therefore was still treated as a buffer between Afghanistan that had irredentist claims over Pakistan’s frontier province renamed as Khyber Pakhtunwa subsequently. Due to the old FCR law and tribal cultural practices observed as customary law there was no ingress of country’s administrative or legal structure in FATA. Resultantly there was very little development as compared to the rest of the country. The region fared poorly on human development indices and over 60% of the population remained below the poverty line. There was one doctor for 7800 people and adult literacy rate of 28% which was well below the national average. The gender literacy gap was huge with female adult literacy rate languishing at 7.6%. The tribes were granted voting rights on adult franchise in 1996.

FATA’s delicate socio-political equilibrium that was based on the trinity of Rewaj (cultural practices), administrative authority of PAs and the tribal leaders called “Maliks”was radically altered in the wake of the Soviet invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan in 1979. The indigenous Afghan resistance was supported by Pakistan through active help from USA and its allies like Saudi Arabia. The use of religion as a rallying cry for freedom fighters called Mujaihideen resulted in influx of local and foreign volunteers who were trained and motivated to fight the Soviets using FATA as the base for the resistance. A culture of religious militancy got hold of the erstwhile conservative yet atavistic Pakhtun republicanism. After Soviet departure the socio-political complexion of the area changed due to the displacement of the tribal Maliks by the religious militia leaders and militants. The situation was exacerbated by the influx of militants from Al Qaeda and Taliban cadres in the wake of US invasion of Afghanistan.

Not many in Pakistan know or care to remember that the forces like Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had almost taken over the state functions in most of the FATA. These Taliban were mostly the locals with a smattering of the new kids on the militancy block representing Afghanistan, Punjab, violent sectarianism, and plain crime. Religion was used as a justification for the violent acts when TTP pushed out the state functionaries from region’s administrative structure. The old institution of “Maliks” or the tribal elders was deprived of its strength due to predation of the new TTP power elite. The time tested administrative system that relied on a triad of Pakhtunwali, Rewaj, and Frontier Crime Regulations (FCR) was unraveled while the government writ progressively eroded.

Now when the army entered FATA to clear it of militants the population hailed it as a saviour. Those who welcomed army included the fathers and mothers of the present day “Pashtun Tahaffuz (Protection) Movement” activists. All wars lead to destruction and disturbance of civilian infrastructure. FATA operations were no exception.

After war in FATA turned like all other wars with destruction of public property and disruption of normal lives, the pain was felt mostly by the affectees of the war. The destroyed homes, shops, clinics, and schools took inordinately long to rebuild despite valiant efforts by one institution. Soon the initial welcoming attitude turned sour as the long war in FATA wore on interminably. A new generation grew up smarting under the pains of refugee camp lifestyle and the restricted liberties. Checkpoints, searching of women, and lack of livelihood opportunities further alienated the young generation tired of the perpetual war in FATA.

In order to address above a radical FATA reforms agenda was introduced. Centuries old FCR was abolished and FATA merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on 31st May 2018 through 25th Constitutional Amendment. FATA merger and reforms were revolutionary steps that legally, politically, and economically integrated FATA into national mainstream. The law of the land was extended to FATA and the courts established alongwith conversion of erstwhile frontier levies into police. The PA’s appointment relying on FCR was replaced with District Commissioners armed with the new laws of the land. To ensure smooth transition a ten year period was allowed to let all the governance institutions fully build their capacity. Army is being progressively reduced with handling security tasks on Pak-Afghan frontier to the paramilitary force i.e Frontier Corps.

The rehabilitation and reconstruction tasks have been almost completed allowing internally displaced persons to return to their homes. A network of 700 kilometers of highway standard roads alongwith construction of Dhanna Irrigation works and Gomal Zam Dam have ushered in a new development era in FATA. FATA’s politico-economic integration in national mainstream and development initiatives has transformed the complexion of the entire region. Its transformation from a lawless frontier to a properly governed part of the country presages a new era of peace and security not only for its denizens but the neighbouring Afghanistan as well where the US backed peace process has attained a strong momentum.

The writer is a security analyst and a PhD scholar