Centre, GHQ the root of FATA’s ills: Speakers
Seminar participants lament lack of effort to give tribal citizens political rights.
ISLAMABAD:
The federal government has only made cosmetic political reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the roots of the region’s security problems can be traced back to Islamabad and the General Headquarters. This was said by Awami National Party (ANP) leader Abdul Latif Afridi at a seminar held at Iqra University on Wednesday.
“Conditions conducive to the activities of political parties are absent in Fata,” he added.
Latif Afridi, whose party is in power in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and is part of the ruling coalition in the centre, said his party’s leaders cannot even enter their constituencies in Fata because of death threats from militants.
He said Fata’s destiny is really in the hands of the army and proposed that the tribal areas should be made part of K-P.
Afridi was joined by other Fata politicians from the Jamat-e Islami, Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf and Pakistan Muslim League-Q at the seminar titled ‘Political reforms, militancy and upcoming election in FATA: Prospects and challenges’, which was organized by the Fata Research Centre (FRC).
The politicians said peace and stability must be ensured in Fata before expecting any positive outcomes from the next general elections in the tribal areas.
The Jamat-e Islami’s Zarnoor Afridi and Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf’s Zahid Hussain Mohmand suggested the militancy in Fata was a reaction to US drone attacks.
Zarnoor Afridi said political parties should dispel security risks, toughen up and work in the tribal areas, while Mohmand said Fata residents should be provided with complete security on election day so they can cast their votes without fear.
Latif Afridi said the extension of the Political Parties Act (PPA) to Fata by President Asif Ali Zardari in August 2011 was the only good
step taken by the government, but lamented the
lack of substantial changes to the Frontier Crimes Regulations.
The PPA extension means election candidates in the tribal areas will be assigned the symbols of their respective parties on the voting slips for the first time, according to information provided by the FRC.
Prior to the PPA, Fata candidates had to officially contest as independents despite obvious party affiliations.
Political analyst Jan Muhammad Achakzai, who was also on the panel of speakers, said peace and stability in Fata might remain elusive in the near future, because the Taliban have not been completely defeated.
Audience members spoke critically of the politicians during the questions and answers session.
“The militants have killed nearly 3,000 pro-peace tribal elders and destroyed almost 400 schools and 175 maternity centres in Fata over the last six years,” said Nizam Dawar, a native of North Waziristan who attended the seminar. “Yet, not a single panellist bothered to address these issues.”
Other participants, most of them hailing from the tribal areas themselves, picked on the politicians for historically making tall claims but not delivering on their promises.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 13th, 2012.
The federal government has only made cosmetic political reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the roots of the region’s security problems can be traced back to Islamabad and the General Headquarters. This was said by Awami National Party (ANP) leader Abdul Latif Afridi at a seminar held at Iqra University on Wednesday.
“Conditions conducive to the activities of political parties are absent in Fata,” he added.
Latif Afridi, whose party is in power in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and is part of the ruling coalition in the centre, said his party’s leaders cannot even enter their constituencies in Fata because of death threats from militants.
He said Fata’s destiny is really in the hands of the army and proposed that the tribal areas should be made part of K-P.
Afridi was joined by other Fata politicians from the Jamat-e Islami, Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf and Pakistan Muslim League-Q at the seminar titled ‘Political reforms, militancy and upcoming election in FATA: Prospects and challenges’, which was organized by the Fata Research Centre (FRC).
The politicians said peace and stability must be ensured in Fata before expecting any positive outcomes from the next general elections in the tribal areas.
The Jamat-e Islami’s Zarnoor Afridi and Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf’s Zahid Hussain Mohmand suggested the militancy in Fata was a reaction to US drone attacks.
Zarnoor Afridi said political parties should dispel security risks, toughen up and work in the tribal areas, while Mohmand said Fata residents should be provided with complete security on election day so they can cast their votes without fear.
Latif Afridi said the extension of the Political Parties Act (PPA) to Fata by President Asif Ali Zardari in August 2011 was the only good
step taken by the government, but lamented the
lack of substantial changes to the Frontier Crimes Regulations.
The PPA extension means election candidates in the tribal areas will be assigned the symbols of their respective parties on the voting slips for the first time, according to information provided by the FRC.
Prior to the PPA, Fata candidates had to officially contest as independents despite obvious party affiliations.
Political analyst Jan Muhammad Achakzai, who was also on the panel of speakers, said peace and stability in Fata might remain elusive in the near future, because the Taliban have not been completely defeated.
Audience members spoke critically of the politicians during the questions and answers session.
“The militants have killed nearly 3,000 pro-peace tribal elders and destroyed almost 400 schools and 175 maternity centres in Fata over the last six years,” said Nizam Dawar, a native of North Waziristan who attended the seminar. “Yet, not a single panellist bothered to address these issues.”
Other participants, most of them hailing from the tribal areas themselves, picked on the politicians for historically making tall claims but not delivering on their promises.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 13th, 2012.