The arrest of Shaukat Aziz, the student organisation president, proves that FATA is still being treated like a colony

Some are calling it a 'Tribal Spring' and the reawakening of FATA people who will no longer accept the oppressive system.

FATA is a colony – deliberately militarised, poor and underdeveloped. It is not a free, autonomous zone as most of its colonial narrative and reading make it out to be. It is very much governable. Its people are living under some of the most inhumane laws of current times.

We have no respect for those status quo forces which portray tribesmen as fiercely independent, while overlooking the fact that they have been subject to something as scathing and archaic as the collective responsibility and punishment clause of FCR. There is no independence and integrity in it.

Huge populations stay displaced owing to militancy and then subsequent operations in the area. More than 22 military operations have been carried out in the region to flush out militants. The recent one has been Zarb-e-Azb, costing around $1.3 billion.

Due to long wars and conflict, state, government and the people of FATA felt the need to integrate this peripheral zone into Pakistan. This is only possible through reforms, along with the presence of proper state machinery like police, judiciary and an accountable executive.

Also, the need for reforms was felt because FATA’s outdated system makes the tribal areas less hospitable to militant movements. The FCR, which came into force on the April 24, 1901, is primarily a document which deals with the security and management of British Empire borders.

The law has come under scathing criticism by all human rights activists and self-respecting individuals who believe in human dignity. A series of worrying events and trends have emerged since the Special Committee on FATA reforms had announced its findings and recommendations in August 2016. The archaic century-old system of indirect governance has now been more active than ever.

The dilemma now is: how to deal with the beneficiary of the status quo in the region, the office of political agent, the malak and the machinery set up by government like FATA Secretariat, and the SAFRON ministry funded by the UNDP. If FATA is streamlined under the reforms, then the need of abovementioned institutions stands significantly reduced. And ironically all these institutions are involved in the FATA reforms committee; how they would go above their interest is anyone’s guess.

The recent grand jirga, called by the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions on December 2, was one such instance. The ministry invited all the malaks, who came on the stage and without any debate or discussion outright rejected the reforms, throwing copies of the document provided. Why is SAFRON, which is funded by UNDP Pakistan, allowed to carry out such exercise when the FATA reforms are already in the Parliament of Pakistan?

A tussle between the pro-reformists – comprising mostly of young, educated students, lawyers and civil society of FATA – and anti-reform – the bureaucracy, malaks – broke out. The students and lawyers shouted ‘Go FCR Go!’, and in the process, the whole jirga was disrupted. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor and PTI Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser left the venue without addressing the gathering and the FATA Secretariat, and SAFRON staff carried on enjoying their tea once the guest speakers had left. The video of that function was widely shared on social media. Some comments even termed it as 'Tribal Spring' and the reawakening of FATA people and the oppressive system being no more acceptable to the locals.

The SAFRON and FATA Secretariat funds and machinery displayed anti-reform inclinations and streamlining of the system, and created an impression as if to say that FATA’s people better be left dependent on the organisations.

It is tough to decide what the state has in store for FATA. The reforms have been turned into such a complicated process – there is a time lag of five years attached to it, and ten years of a developmental programme being run by the government. This in itself is an indicator of how much urgency and humanity is to be found in the state circles. The bureaucratic machinery and the status quo holders, in the meantime, have reared their ugly head. The lack of accountability is a systemic and deeply ingrained issue with FATA Secretariat and other offices involved, which have perpetuated a cycle of continued corruption. What further compounds the problem is that in the presence of existing administrative and legislative structure, it’s near to impossible to establish accountability. We just heard that Shaukat Aziz, President of FATA student organisation, who raised the slogan of ‘Go FCR Go!’ – which only means I want the right to a lawyer, judge and due process of law – has been arrested by Peshawar Deputy Commissioner and shifted to Peshawar Central Jail. It is high time that the state of Pakistan took the impact of Zarb-e-Azb seriously, or else all the sacrifices of the displaced and killed – whether wearing the uniform or civilian – will go in vain.