A brave new world for Pakistan’s ancient tribes
Can a country have separate, unequal rights for its citizens, and separate systems of governance to enforce those unequal rights? The answer is yes, and the most famous “one-country, two-system” model is the one that the late Deng Xiaoping crafted in the 1980s that is still zealously practiced by Beijing.
China is governed under a special Basic Law model that allows Beijing to have one system for the mainland, and another for Hong Kong and Macau. These regions are allowed special economic and administrative rights and freedoms over and above what mainland China and its billion-plus citizens have.
Pakistan moved in the other political direction in May 2018, abolishing a major part of its “one-country, multiple-systems” constitutional status. The country’s outgoing Parliament in its last week undertook the unprecedented step of amending the constitution to merge the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
After India was partitioned in 1947, FATA was accorded a special status by the new state of Pakistan, granting its fierce Pashtun tribes in the areas bordering Afghanistan independence from Pakistan’s constitution, customs, laws and taxes.
For decades, FATA has remained fiercely insular, resisting change and choosing to govern itself under ancient tribal codes that reject equal and individual rights, even as the rest of Pakistan evolved politically into a democracy and modernized socially and economically.
FATA was governed minimally by the president who, as head of state, guaranteed implementation of a group of tribal customs and enforcement regulations known as the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR). The FCR allowed on-the-spot trials and punishment of entire tribes for the crimes of individuals.
The jurisdiction of modern, secular legal jurisprudence and criminal justice governing Pakistan did not extend to FATA. No local politics or media were allowed. Administrators could hand down any punishment, however outlandish, with no recourse to appeal.
Things started to change after the Soviet invasion of neighboring Afghanistan in 1979. In the largest covert war in modern history, spearheaded against communism by the US and aided by Pakistan’s military regime, FATA became a logistics base due to its porous 440-km border with Afghanistan, with Pashtun tribes and families living on both sides.
This official “jihad,” implemented by fighters from many countries and aided by the international community, radically changed the fate of FATA, turning it into a hotbed of state-supported regional militancy. After the covert war was won by the US against the Soviet Union in 1989, heavily armed FATA became the supply base for various Afghan groups battling for control of Kabul. These fractious groups and their local supporters also fought in FATA.
This bloody battle for Kabul culminated in the Taliban capturing it and setting up a government there in 1996. After the 9/11 attacks, the US — blaming Afghanistan-based Al-Qaeda — invaded the country in 2001 and dislodged the Taliban. This led to FATA becoming embroiled in yet another war, as Taliban fighters and supporters flooded the region, as did Al-Qaeda, and joined hands.
With Islamabad siding with the international community in cracking down on Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, FATA, KP and other parts of Pakistan erupted in a frenzy of terrorism that killed 40,000 citizens, including more than 3,500 soldiers.
A long-dormant desire to reap the fruits of development, which the rest of Pakistan has come to enjoy, has injected a sense of urgency to jettison ancient customs that have become redundant in the new millennium.
Adnan Rehmat
These cataclysmic events in the erstwhile peaceful, sleepy tribal regions of Pakistan have over the past decade radically changed local perceptions and customs in political and governance terms. The native tribesmen — having experienced death, destruction and displacement in their millions — have grown weary of war, turmoil, and a near-total absence of economic and social development.
A long-dormant desire to reap the fruits of development, which the rest of Pakistan has come to enjoy, has injected a sense of urgency to jettison ancient customs that have become redundant in the new millennium. This has led to a movement that has resulted in FATA constitutionally embracing a politically modern Pakistan and abandoning the diminishing returns on its redundant special status.
In the July 2018 elections, FATA will elect its representatives to the National Assembly, and within a year to the KP Assembly, as well as elect its own local district governments. After hundreds of years, 5 million Pakistani tribesmen have embraced a bold new future in a politically modern Pakistan. This will contribute majorly to peace in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the broader region.
- Adnan Rehmat is a Pakistan-based journalist, researcher and analyst with interests in politics, media, development and science. Twitter: @adnanrehmat1
