Mainstreaming peripheries: ‘To end radicalism, Pakistan must adopt democratic norms’

Legislator calls for amendments in the Frontier Crimes Regulation.

ISLAMABAD:

Local government elections in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) can help end misgovernance and radicalism in the area.

This was the consensus at a seminar held at the National Defense University on Thursday.

Former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) chief secretary Khalid Aziz questioned why no one was taking notice of the resurgence of banned outfits and their growing influence especially in South Punjab.

“Why we are applying two different approaches to the same phenomenon when it comes to innocent Pashtuns of FATA,” he said, while questioning why military operations only took place along the border. Talking about the alleged role of Pakistan in supporting militant groups, Aziz remarked that the ‘population bomb’ is already hitting the country hard, but “we continue to ignore it and all our energies are wasted tackling the militancy”.

Talking about the increasing number of illegal seminaries in the capital, he said every now-and-then, a structure comes up on the banks of a stream and the seminary leaders soon begin grabbing the adjacent land. “If we let them grow, we will need another Lal Masjid-like operation to muzzle it.”

Earlier, Member National Assembly Daniyal Aziz shared the historical background of FATA and Malakand Division. He suggested that effective transition of power to local level would make people feel like citizens of the state. He called for amendments in the Frontier Crimes Regulation and ending the British era carrot-and-stick approach.

He said the problems in FATA are known to all. Aziz remarked that parallel judicial and executive systems are hurting the administrative performance in the area where a political agent acts like a station house officer.

Journalist Rahimullah Yousafzai was of the view that in 1969, the princely states of Dir, Swat and Chitral acceded to Pakistan, but nostalgia about peace in those times still persists. “But isn’t it the same with the rest of Pakistan, missing the days of nonviolence,” he asked. He suggested mainstreaming of these areas into K-P.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2014.