If miseries of Fata’s people are not attended on emergency basis, extremists may soon make inroads into the area again
KURRAM AGENCY: It is a commonly held opinion about Fata that it is a hard terrain known for breeding extremists. This view holds ground not because there is some truth in it or because of the area’s perceived anti-modernity. It is also not because its people are supposedly allergic to modern education. This view is held because of the perpetuation of the age-old colonial notion that the people of Fata can only be ‘tamed’ by enacting laws that cater to their ‘violent instincts’. This colonial mindset still holds ground within our bureaucracy.
If a comparison is drawn between the Raj days and post-colonial Fata, one stumbles upon too many similar injunctions that still dehumanise and haunt its people. One of these dark laws is the FCR. The educational infrastructure here speaks of administrative apathy. The health sector is in a shambles. Fata is a no-go area for local and international NGOs and is pretty much cut off from the rest of the country. The miseries of Fata’s people are piling up on such a scale that if they are not attended to on an emergency basis, extremists may soon make inroads into the area again.
Muhammad Arif Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, June 25th, 2015.
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