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The Solution for FATA
Printed in THE NEWS
The solution for FATA Part I Thursday, May 22, 2008 Muhammad Jan Mahsud In his article "The only solution for FATA" published on these pages on May 10, Mr Khalid Aziz has highlighted the critical situation of FATA. Mr Aziz has a vast experience in FATA administration, and despite that he is either unaware of the ground situation or is deliberately shying away from calling a spade a spade. The issue of FATA is not that simple as is projected these days in the media. It is a complex issue with all the real players sitting behind the curtain and only the stooges are in the field. Nobody ever tried to look into the background of the problems faced by FATA. These problems are as old and deep as FATA itself is. Pakistan came into being in 1947 as an independent and sovereign state, but FATA was left in its pre-independence state and the status quo still remains. Before independence, British rule had been extended to the whole of the Subcontinent, except FATA which was then, and also at present, governed through political agents. The rule of Political Agent in terms of management and administration was so successful that we cannot find its parallel in the settled areas throughout the of Pakistan. The administration and its apparatus were so powerful that no one could hide after committing a crime. This was an area equal in size to almost half of the NWFP but its law and order record was better than that of a single police station of the settled areas. In the tribal system no crime can escape justice. For a petty crime of an individual, the whole tribe was answerable until the production of the criminal. However, this system was destroyed through a well thought out plan. Firstly, the state failed to develop the basic infrastructure in term of communication, education and health facilities during the sixty years of Pakistan. It is imperative to look into the background and the events that brought FATA to its present situation. The educational, health and other developmental projects were given on loyalty basis rather than on the basis of need. These projects were used as personal properties for receiving handsome amounts every month under the head of bad services on the one hand and a reasonable share of, say, a teacher's salary on the other. The teacher was guaranteed to receive the remaining salary at his home without attending the school. In this way the tribal people were deprived of education, except for the few who could afford it in the settled districts. The maliks and tribal chieftains were the beneficiaries until the end of the Cold War era. During this time, in the absence of school education, the majority of youths enrolled themselves in mosques and madrasas, thanks to the generous help and support provided by Gen Zia-ul-Haq. The malik was quietly cut down to size. This situation was followed by a wave of lawlessness until the complete erosion of the malik's authority. Many people took law and order in their own hands under the patronage of the administration. Influential tribal chieftains and maliks were eliminated through targeted killings. The second tier of tribal chieftains and maliks, seeing the fate of their seniors, fled the areas for their lives. Thus, a vacuum was created which, in the absence of political forces, was filled by a new breed of leaders with the background of madrasa education, who spread their influence in a complete illiterate society. They introduced a new culture and spread a distinct version of the faith, with special emphasis on a few subjects. In the aftermath of the US invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan deployed its troops in the tribal areas, in violation of tradition and without a treaty. Traditionally, every a tribal can hold a gun but the one who was fortunate enough to hold a pen, instead threw the gun and got educated, never to hold the gun again. But those unfortunate who could not make it to the schools, instead took the gun and are still holding it, and shall be holding it, thanks to the return of the dark ages that is engulfing the whole of the tribal belt. Every school built during the past sixty years in the tribal area is either does not exist physically or has been turned in to a heap of rubbles. Their stones, bricks and even scrap have been sold, along with the scrap of the few factories and bridges which were built in the vast area. This phenomenal appearance of the gun-totting young men and the disappearance of the tribal system apparatus (the maliks/chieftains) is in fact deeply-rooted in the very creation of FATA, firstly by our colonial masters and then its subsequent continuation by our coloured masters, the political agents, the chief secretaries and the governors. The purpose for which the status of the area was maintained, took no time due to its peculiar condition and location to convert it into a battleground for others. The pre-cold war era culminated in the defeat and subsequent disintegration of the Soviet Union thanks to FATA, where this 'big game' was played. And now once again the 'Great Game' is being played on this soil. http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=113959 |
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Faraz_1984 (Thursday, May 22, 2008) |
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Part II
The solution for FATA Part II Saturday, May 24, 2008 Muhammad Jan Mahsud The "war on terror" is the famous "Great Game" . The America, the West, and even many Muslim states are fighting this war against a nonexistent enemy. Yes, there are the Taliban but they were there when the British were engaged against them in the 19th century. American reports on 9/11 indicate that no one from this part of the world was involved in that attack. It could be Osama Bin Laden, as is alleged, but he is an Arab who was brought in and equipped by the Americans themselves, and now they are chasing the same Osama. In his article Mr Khalid Aziz has proposed certain solutions for the situation in FATA. None of them will work as these are against the psychology of the inhabitants of the area. The inhabitants can be suppressed momentarily, but they cannot be made to change their mind or intimidated. Anyone living in fool's paradise can think of snatching the gun from a local and give a shovel in his hand to enable him to earn his bread. This is impossible as he does not know any other skill to earn. This is the problem that needs a solution and the solution is not a military one. The intellect and courage of these people of FATA is undebatable. They can do anything, anytime and anywhere. Come to terms with them, that is the solution. Provide them with leadership, confine the mullahs to their fields of activity, encourage politics, political forces and dialogue. This will give birth to a civil society from whose platform they can find answers to their questions. Empower and recognise the Taliban as a political force and make them responsible in the same way as the MQM was offered a share in the Sindh government. In this way they can prove their mettle, or the history will decide their fate. This is the logical way as the 90,000-strong Pakistan Army contingents deployed there, with support from the NATO, have proved no match to them. As regards the change in the FCR is concerned, it must be brought about without changing its basic concept aand without merging FATA with the NWFP. The people of FATA love to accept challenges and competition. Provide them any field of competition and they would excel and show the world their worth. They not only compete in target shooting but they compete in dancing too, they are also legendry singers. They have engaged the world superpower along with the NATO nations single-handedly, therefore, they can do wonders if provided the right opportunities. Providing opportunities to them is very simple. Just announce any sort of training in any trade, they would flock and compete for. They are very fond of acquiring knowledge but the system imposed on them deprives them of knowledge and literacy. If American aid to Pakistan is utilised in the field of human resource development, this will do wonders. For this purpose, it is not necessary to develop standard schools and colleges for them on war footing but to sponsor them and educate them. An exercise was initiated in this regard, though on a small scale, under which students from FATA selected on the basis of tribal competition were admitted in various reputable schools and institutions of the country. Only a few were lucky enough to get this opportunity of a lifetime. This year, too, a competition has been held, participated by over ten thousand students, but it is yet to be confirmed as to how many students will be accommodated under this programme. This type of education opportunity, if provided on a large scale, would allow the young men currently involved in the violence to develop skills needed for getting decent jobs. It is interesting to note that against all these odds and hostile environment, the Mahsud tribe in particular owns almost eighty percent of the heavy construction machinery currently operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan. These simple looking people, despite their illiteracy, are always found engaged in all sorts of innovative businesses. If they can do such wonders despite the completely negative environment, they would certainly surprise the world way if provided with the right opportunities. Courtesy: The News
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