Historic elections

Saturday’s electoral exercise should be taken only as a first step in the direction to heal scars

The tribal areas on the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan are no more ghairilaqa (un-administered territory) or yaghistan (the land of rebels). Having been integrated with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa through a constitutional amendment in May 2018, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) ceased to exist with its special status.

They are now constitutionally and administratively part of Pakistan like any other settled area. And on Saturday, its residents were seen turning over a new leaf in history as they came out to elect their representatives for the provincial assembly.

There were 2.80 million registered voters including 1.67 million males and 1.13 million females, to elect members on 16 provincial assembly seats allocated to eight districts of erstwhile FATA. It is the first time in the history of this area that its residents have been allowed to directly participate in an electoral exercise being carried out on the basis of one man one vote and to become part of a democratic process where they would be free to manage their administrative and political affairs through their elected representatives.

Almost all the political parties have fielded their candidates in the elections. The ruling PTI was contesting on all the 16 general seats followed by the JUI-F on 15, the ANP on 14, the PPP and the JI on 13 seats each. The PML-N and the Qaumi Watan Party are contesting on five and three seats respectively. No less than 202 independents were also in the run.

Whatever the outcome of this election, it is a great moment in the lives of people who, after having been subjected to alien status for more than hundred years, must now be feeling part of political, constitutional and administrative landscape of Pakistan. Decades-long bloody turmoil in Afghanistan, followed by religio-political militancy, and subsequent military operations have left a deep scar on the soul of the tribal Pathans.

The Saturday’s electoral exercise should be taken only as a first step in the direction to heal these scars and to give these people a sense of belonging and togetherness. Remember what Sir Olaf Caroe had said: “Pathan custom requires the satisfaction of the aggrieved rather than the punishment of the aggressor.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 21^st, 2019.

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