Mainstreaming Fata

For many reasons, it is time we ended the isolation of Fata and drew these areas into the mainstream of our country


Editorial July 27, 2015
PHOTO: EXPRESS

The public petition cell of the Senate has taken up a case moved before it by the family of 18-year-old Maaz Khan, who his family says has been held by the political administration of Khyber Agency since March this year, subjected to torture and prevented from appearing before a tribal jirga. This move by the Senate may help push forward badly needed reforms in Fata. Our tribal areas are still governed by the colonial-era Frontier Crimes Regulation, which often resorts to barbaric measures to maintain law and order, including the meting out of collective punishment to entire communities in case of a breach by a single individual, and the grant of extraordinary powers to the political agent, who essentially runs these territories. The case of Khan highlights the need to reform these laws. A committee was set up by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government last year for this purpose and continues dialogue in order to resolve differences over the issue of bringing Fata into the mainstream of national life.

According to the report received by the Senate panel, the teenager was detained after a scuffle with a member of another tribe. The political agent and his deputy did not appear before the Senate for a hearing despite being summoned and instead sent in a written report, which states that Khan had attacked law enforcers. Dissatisfied with the contents of the report, the Senate has demanded that the officials concerned appear before its panel and also asked the SAFRON ministry to make arrangements to produce Khan before the body. This is a welcome step forward. For too long, the Fata areas have been run on the whim of political agents, its people forced to abide by rules which give them no right to put forward their own version of events, or stand fair trial in a court of law. For many reasons, it is time we ended the isolation of Fata and drew these areas into the mainstream of our country. This could help bring greater order within these territories and end the legal chaos that has for so long made the lives of the people a constant nightmare. We hope the Senate action will be a step in this direction.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 28th, 2015.

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