The future(s) of FATA
It appears that the matter has receded in importance
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) region is a colonial relic and have long been the subject of debate as to how to reform their status. Each of the areas is distinctive in terms of culture and identity though all share a common ethnic root — they are Pashtun and part of a wider Pashtun diaspora that reaches deep into Balochistan and into Afghanistan as well as being spread around the world. Pakistan is home to the largest group of Pashtuns and they mostly live in Fata and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) though they have a presence in every province.
It has been agreed that Fata is to be merged with K-P but the process of merger is not going to be easy, quick or pain free. All the political parties that are active in Fata and K-P have an opinion and the latest to have their say is the Awami National Party, whose President, Asfandyar Wali Khan, announced on Friday 27th October that at some point after the Fata merger with K-P then the ANP was going to establish a new Pashtun province that would rival Punjab for size, wealth and power. His speech contained a number of points of interest, one being that unnamed ‘world powers’ were seeking to shed Pashtun blood and had already done so and the quantity shed ‘was not even shed in world wars.’ Whilst politicians in Pakistan are renowned for poetic licence and have an often scant acquaintance with facts, the total casualties in WW2 were between 60 and 80 million. Current estimates are that there are around 57 million Pashtuns in Pakistan, with 26 million of these in K-P and 5.5 million in Fata. Mr Khan would do well to employ a fact-checker.
Historical gaffes aside Mr Khan proclaimed himself to be an Afghan and that regional peace depends on the situation in Afghanistan — a perspective with which we are in complete agreement. It does. He also called for an ‘immediate’ merger between Fata and K-P and then extended his vision of a future Pashtun province by calling for the assimilation of parts of Balochistan and ‘the annexed territories of Afghanistan.’ Here he enters difficult if not dangerous waters.
As noted above there is no possibility of there being a quick merger between Fata and K-P simply because it is a fiendishly complex task to achieve, even piecemeal as it is going to have to be and possibly spread over a generation; and secondly his reference to Afghanistan, a sovereign state, suggests that he anticipates either a secession of parts of that state and an accession to a new Pashtun province, or the taking thereof by main force. This may be just blue-sky thinking by Mr Khan as he is carried away in the rhetorical moment, but there will be many for whom his words and proposed futures resonate strongly.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) also featured in his speech, and he claimed that the present government had reneged on an undertaking that had been given regarding the ‘western route’ as being the first priority. A variety of politicians were given a drubbing for having failed to do this that or the other, and the speech if nothing else has underscored the complexities ahead — as well as sowing the seeds of complexities yet to sprout shoots.
The Fata-K-P merger is probably the greatest task by far that is facing the federal government. However, it appears that the matter has receded in importance. The landscape today is littered with wounded politicians, inter and-intra party scraps and mega projects being transferred from the back of an envelope to ground reality. Failing to consistently and effectively work on the merger and all its associated threads really does present a considerable threat to stability internally and security particularly. For all its faults Mr Khan’s speech must be seen as a clarion call, and the federal government would be unwise to ignore it.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 29th, 2017.
It has been agreed that Fata is to be merged with K-P but the process of merger is not going to be easy, quick or pain free. All the political parties that are active in Fata and K-P have an opinion and the latest to have their say is the Awami National Party, whose President, Asfandyar Wali Khan, announced on Friday 27th October that at some point after the Fata merger with K-P then the ANP was going to establish a new Pashtun province that would rival Punjab for size, wealth and power. His speech contained a number of points of interest, one being that unnamed ‘world powers’ were seeking to shed Pashtun blood and had already done so and the quantity shed ‘was not even shed in world wars.’ Whilst politicians in Pakistan are renowned for poetic licence and have an often scant acquaintance with facts, the total casualties in WW2 were between 60 and 80 million. Current estimates are that there are around 57 million Pashtuns in Pakistan, with 26 million of these in K-P and 5.5 million in Fata. Mr Khan would do well to employ a fact-checker.
Historical gaffes aside Mr Khan proclaimed himself to be an Afghan and that regional peace depends on the situation in Afghanistan — a perspective with which we are in complete agreement. It does. He also called for an ‘immediate’ merger between Fata and K-P and then extended his vision of a future Pashtun province by calling for the assimilation of parts of Balochistan and ‘the annexed territories of Afghanistan.’ Here he enters difficult if not dangerous waters.
As noted above there is no possibility of there being a quick merger between Fata and K-P simply because it is a fiendishly complex task to achieve, even piecemeal as it is going to have to be and possibly spread over a generation; and secondly his reference to Afghanistan, a sovereign state, suggests that he anticipates either a secession of parts of that state and an accession to a new Pashtun province, or the taking thereof by main force. This may be just blue-sky thinking by Mr Khan as he is carried away in the rhetorical moment, but there will be many for whom his words and proposed futures resonate strongly.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) also featured in his speech, and he claimed that the present government had reneged on an undertaking that had been given regarding the ‘western route’ as being the first priority. A variety of politicians were given a drubbing for having failed to do this that or the other, and the speech if nothing else has underscored the complexities ahead — as well as sowing the seeds of complexities yet to sprout shoots.
The Fata-K-P merger is probably the greatest task by far that is facing the federal government. However, it appears that the matter has receded in importance. The landscape today is littered with wounded politicians, inter and-intra party scraps and mega projects being transferred from the back of an envelope to ground reality. Failing to consistently and effectively work on the merger and all its associated threads really does present a considerable threat to stability internally and security particularly. For all its faults Mr Khan’s speech must be seen as a clarion call, and the federal government would be unwise to ignore it.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 29th, 2017.