Why wouldn’t the government merge FATA(federally administered tribal area) with the NWFP?
The tribal are forced to live under the draconian law called FRC. Many Pashtun intellectuals are calling for the abolition of FCR and the integration of tribal area with the settled area but the center is hesitant to do that. There is a reason for that, can any body find out what it is? It also has to do with the advice of British masters to their leaky who are ruling us since 1947.
Re: Why wouldn’t the government merge FATA with the NWFP
They arent forces, thats what they want...
Re: Why wouldn’t the government merge FATA with the NWFP
They want to arrest Pashtun ......national formation/building by erecting artificial political and administrative divide among them. Moreover, FATA is an excuse to interefer in the affair of Afghanistan and a justification to be "partner"(?) in war on terror. In 1956, at the time of one unit, FATA had been given representation in provincial assembly of West Pakistan and its population had been inflated to a figure of 5 millions to counter East Bangal. So the federal government has defined its status on whims.
Nevertheless, new generatuion and classes have emerged in FATA and they are vehemently demanding the abolition of FATA status and extension of political party act and judicial reforms to FATA. There is great restlessness among FATA inhabitants with regard to this. This is almost the same situation when Pashtuns were demanding political reforms in NWFP back in 1920s, like the rest of British India, and British imperialists were not willing to grant it.
These are the divisions of colonial era kept intact so far by the necessities of Cold War politics and post Cold war transitional period. But they will crumble sooner than expected. Globalization and the changed international political environment simply don't approve adminstrative balckholes like FATA.
If Pakistani rulers are wise, they should resolve this matter by integrating tribals into the mainstream through extension of political party act and representation in provincial assembly before things explode.
It is all the adamancy of the Punjab because it considers Pakistan its empire and its bureaucratic elite is wary of the unity among people.
Other Pakistanis i.e. Baluchis, Sindhis, Urdu-speakers, Pashtuns, Siraikis, Dards, Potoharis, etc. have sympathetic attitude towards FATA.
Re: Why wouldn’t the government merge FATA with the NWFP
^This is news to me, people actually want to abolish the FATA system? From what I know, the FATA policy is an extension of the Britis policy.. Dont interfere with the workings of the Tribals.. I though this is what the tribal people wanted! To be independant... Isnt the FATA concept all at the behest of the tirbals themselves?
Im surprised that FATA is another reason for you people to suspect the country...
The FATA was supposed to be a wat to appease the Tribals.
We would all love to see FATAs integration into the mainstream, but I dont think they want that do they?
Re: Why wouldn’t the government merge FATA with the NWFP
I would fully support the merger of the FATA with the NWFP. The FATA is nothing more than a historical anachronism and gives far too much autonomy to the region. Federal law does not apply in the NWFP as it does in the provinces and this situation has been tolerated for far too long.
The NWFP should also be renamed. It's no longer a frontier any more than Sindh, Punjab or Balochistan are.
Re: Why wouldn’t the government merge FATA with the NWFP
Divide and Rule!
You brothers should wakeup now and take your affairs into your own hands... Don't expect anything from Punjabis and Muhajirs except exploitation of your people and your resources...
For starters unite the Pashtun Lands (NWFP, FATA, parts of Baluchistan, Attock, Mianwali) into one province and name it Pashtunkhwa..
Re: Why wouldn’t the government merge FATA with the NWFP
I remember reading somewhere that an outgoing British officer in 1947, advised their slaves to keep the FATA the way it is because the tribals will serve as unpaid defenders of western border for Pakistan. I think this is the main reason Pakistan is not interested in abolishing FCR and integrating FATA into NWFP. Now they are talking about changing some clauses of the FCR but not fully abolishing it.
I can not find the reference to my claim though.
Re: Why wouldn’t the government merge FATA with the NWFP
You guys are nuts... The FATA was made for the sake of the Tribals.. Has nothing to do with divide anyting..Tribals Pathans want the FATA status...
Re: Why wouldn’t the government merge FATA with the NWFP
^^ no need to blabber here, just ask your MAToos the ones elected by Pushtoons.
Even better ask Sufi Mohammad the rapist of Malakand. May be you are too shy to ask 
Re: Why wouldn’t the government merge FATA with the NWFP
British policy vis-a’-vis Pashtun Land underwent three changes during 19th Century.
Initially, when they extended their control to the North-West, two opinions emerged among the British startegist regarding the north-western frontier of the then British India. The first was, Indus should be the line of defense against any invasion from the north because they thought operation and control beyond that point will be too risky and expensive.
Another group of strategists propounded the Forward Policy according to which British should assert effective control over in order to pre-empt any southward incursion by Tzarist Russia, another colonial power of that era. The propunders of forward policy won and British sent armies deeper into Pashtun areas to bring them under control or to install their puppets over them. But when they suffered heavy losses, they adopted another policy i.e. Closed Border Policy according to which they had to leave Pashtun Land especially Afghanistan as that but had to be on gaurd against any Russian southward activism. But after second Afghan War, they suspected that Russians are increasing their influence in the south so they invaded Afghanistan again. That again proved dangerous.
In the end, they devised Three Fold Frontier Policy according to which British India had to have three lines of defense in the north-west; the first line was to be Settled Areas of Pakhtunkhwa where they had to excercise direct rule; the second line were to be tribal areas/FATA which they had to manage through political institutions (political agents), and the third was to be Afghanistan, which had to have internal autonomy but had to get approval of British in foreign relations. In 1919, the Third Afghan War, Afghanistan won autonomy in external affairs also.
So these divisions served British interests. But the point is, can this colonial arrangement be sustained any more in this modern age of today? Can the todays political environment allow this.
To my Punjabi friends, don’t be amibitious because Punjab has no capacity to be an imperialist power. Its bureaucarcy was pampered by British and later sustained by the Cold War politics, but the 21st Century has entirely differet imperatives as for as conflict between great powers. The World is utterly against WMDs, Terrorism, and nuclear prolifiration and all powers know who is in the control of things in Pakistan and a militarized Pakistan is serving the interests of which ethnicity. The coming 25 years will see a downfall of Punjab’s power, especially military.
Re: Why wouldn’t the government merge FATA with the NWFP
A nicely written article on what goes in the Tribal areas:
The inevitable FCR
AZIZ-UD-DIN AHMAD
Despite assurances given to the Senate to review the Frontier Crimes Regulation, and the appointment of a committee for the purpose, there is little hope of the government rescinding the draconian relic of the colonial era which is a stigma for any independent country. That it has remained operative for fifty-eight years after independence indicates there are strong vested interests that want to safeguard it. The FCR was enacted by the British rulers to crush the freedom spirit among tribesmen. Its harsh provisions hark back to a period in history when there was little concern for human rights of the subjugated nations. That it continues to be retained is a matter of shame.
The FCR gives wide discriminatory powers to the administration headed by the political agent. In the tribal areas jirgas selected by the executive authority act as courts of law. The appeal from the lower jirga is heard by the one above it constituted in a similar arbitrary manner. The punishment awarded can range from jail terms, fines, and the demolition of the accused person’s residence. The family members of an absconder, including women and children, can be arrested and put behind the bars. The law entitles the administration to deprive distant clansmen of a fugitive of government jobs, close the markets owned by them and stop their buses and trucks from operating as collective punishment.
**In a case reported by the Society for the Protection of Rights of the Child (SPARC) last year, 2 years old Zarmina, 7 years old Iran Khan and 8 years old Tahir Khan were convicted under the FCR for 3 years along with their mother Hukam Jana because the children’s father and uncle who were wanted by the police had absconded. A newspaper report tells of 70 children being kept in NWFP jails under the FCR, 15 of them below 10 years of age. Speaking at a SPARC seminar in Peshawar on Tuesday Governor NWFP conceded there were 35 child prisoners currently in confinement. **
Among the worst ever recourse to the FCR was in 2004 when security forces fought militants in South Waziristan. This was the time when the Pakistan army had undertaken an operation to coordinate with a similar one on the other side of the border by the US led forces in what was described as hammer and anvil action. Tribesmen were ordered to hand over foreign militants and their local collaborators and as they failed to do so the operation continued for months. **Actions taken included raising of the houses of the fugitives, arrests of scores of their relatives and the dismissal of those in government service.
A daily fine of Rs 50,000 was levied for one week on two Waziri sub-tribes for failure to deliver the wanted men. Actions were taken to paralyse the economic life of the entire Ahmad Zai Wazir tribe. Markets and petrol pumps belonging to its members were forcibly closed down and trucks and passenger buses owned by them stopped from plying. Hospitals in Wana were shut down, denying treatment to patients. Entry of food items like wheat and flour was banned in the area. So was the exit of vegetables and fruits to markets outside the agency. **
It was at the height of the operation when Secretary of State Colin Powell told CBS radio: “I am pleased President Musharraf has responded to our overtures and is conducting new military operations in that region. And he understands that the kind of rogue presence is not in his interest and is dangerous to Pakistan just as it is dangerous to Afghanistan …So what we are doing is cooperating with the Pakistanis making it clear to the Pakistanis that we want them to do everything they can to bring that area under control.” Ironically it was during the operation that Colin Powell, the representative of a government that is never tired of condemning comparatively minor human rights violations in countries it doesn’t like, visited Islamabad to declare that the US had decided to reward Pakistan with the status a major non-NATO ally.
There is a strong vested interest that stands in the way of rescinding the FCR. ** The special status given to the tribal areas puts the region directly under the President. This has allowed the powers that be to manipulate through him tribal legislators in the Senate and the National Assembly to put pressure on elected governments. Tribal legislators have traditionally played an important role in intrigues centred at the presidency.
Bureaucracy, represented by the political administration wants the system to continue as it provides it ample opportunity to misappropriate public funds at its disposal. ** What is more the system covers up the inefficiency on the part of the government officials entrusted to maintain law and order in the Agencies. Instead of creating an efficient system of detection and control of crime, they find it easier to resort to shock and awe methods. The outmoded and increasingly unpopular tribal elite banks upon the system for the continuation of its privileges. The jirga system allows them to collect moajib, or stipends, while it empowers them to punish their rivals and reward supporters. ** The army is interested in keeping the system intact as it gives it a free hand to deal with the tribesmen while keeping the press and the human rights activists outside the area as under the system none can enter the Agencies without permission from the political administration. **
The justification given to continue the inhuman law since the British days is that the Pushtuns are fanatics and only understand the language of force. One can understand a colonial power categorising the freedom fighters as fierce and lawless but it is highly insulting to demonise a section of population in an independent country.
Representing this vested interest Governor Khalil-ur-Rehman told the SPARC conference on Monday that despite several innocent children and women rotting in NWFP jails, it would be impossible to govern the FATA without the FCR. According to him it would not be possible to repeal the black law. What could be done at the most was to amend a couple of clauses to give FCR a “human face.”
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Re: Why wouldn’t the government merge FATA with the NWFP
Thanks Zak, starting to look clearer now...