May the 31st 2018, will always be remembered as a watershed in the history of Pakistan. On this historic day, President of Pakistan signed the 31st Constitutional Amendment Bill for merger of Federally Administrative Tribal Area (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) after having got the formal approval of National Assembly of Pakistan, the Senate and provincial assembly of KP with an over whelming majority. Coincidentally, Pakistan got its independence from British in the holy month of Ramadan and people of FATA also got their real independence in Ramadan from the shackles of FCR enacted by the same British Raj back in 1901. Interestingly, the National Assembly of Pakistan also completed its five years stipulated tenure on 31st May 2018. The outgoing National Assembly of Pakistan may finally take some pride in FATA Reforms Bill as their single biggest success; otherwise they had nothing to boast of as far as their overall performance is concerned.
Pakistan Muslim League (N) might have earned a lot of good will in the eyes of Public; had they not delayed this bill unnecessarily for last over one and half year to please their two political allies in the shape of Maulana Fazl ur Rehman and Mehmud Khan Achakzai. However, all the major political parties of Pakistan deserve full appreciation for developing consensus on a long outstanding issue of FATA Reforms Bill that was pending since 2017. Here, Muthidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) deserves a special mention because without their support the two-third majority in the National Assembly might not have been possible. Notwithstanding the internal issues, MQM Pakistan chose to stand on the right side of history by supporting the said bill. While Mehmud Khan Achakzai and Maulana Fazal ur Rehman will soon realize their mistake for opting to stand against the popular will of the people of FATA. Apart from political parties, the other stake holders including Pak Army, tribal elders, FATA Youth Jirga (FYJ), media and civil society of Pakistan too deserve approbation for their positive role of constantly pushing the treasury and opposition benches in the Parliament. Last but not the least is the FATA Reforms Committee under Sartaj Aziz that worked day and night to make it a reality.
The merger of FATA with KP has really brought about a quantum change and a ray of hope in the lives of those people who lived under the draconian laws of FCR for over a century. The manifestation of this change was quite evident on the faces of youth, the other day when Chief of Army Staff, General Bajwa invited members of FYJ to commemorate the occasion of FATA merger with KP. The ongoing celebrations and jubilations in the streets of former FATA speak volumes about the true emotions and aspirations of common people about the merger. The tribal people mostly used to feel aliens and completely aloof from the activities of the mainland Pakistan. Now, the merger has permeated a sense of pride in the tribal people who now feel that they are equal and free citizens of Pakistan having basic human rights guaranteed under the constitution of Pakistan. Besides, routine funding an additional one hundred billion rupees have been allocated to tribal region for the much needed development work of infrastructure and other allied facilities lacking in the area. The people of FATA region will have better representation at all levels including local bodies, provincial assembly and both houses of Parliament at federal level. Above all, the biggest advantage that the people of FATA will accrue out of the merger with KP is the process of due justice being ensured to the people which is enshrined to every citizen under the constitution of Pakistan. Now, being the citizen of Pakistan they will have the right to appeal and may go to Higher Court and Supreme Court. Whereas the biggest ailment in the black law of FCR was that the individual had no right to appeal against the conviction. Furthermore, the whole family and tribe used to be penalized for the any crime committed by an individual belonging to a particular tribe under the draconian FCR.
FATA consist of seven agencies (Bajaur, Mohmand,Khyber, Kurram, Orakzai, North Waziristan and South Waziristan) and six tribal areas adjoining the Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, Lakki Marwat,Tank and Dera Ismail Khan, known as Frontier Regions covering a total area of 27,220 square kilometres and a population of little over Five Million. It is pertinent to highlight that no other region of Pakistan has suffered more than FATA region as a consequence of militancy and terrorism for nearly four decades. The insecurity and chaos prevailed in the region had more to do with its location that is in close proximity of Afghanistan all along western border of Pakistan. The agony of FATA region commenced from Russian Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and reached its epic in 2007 after the emergence of Tehrik-e- Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Particularly, during the last one decade, the sufferings of people of FATA are beyond words. They not only suffered hundreds of human lives in the hands of militants but also thousands of families vacated their homes and lived as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) for months under the temporary shelters during military operations by Pak Army. The success of Operation Zarb-e-Azb finally broke the back bone of militants in FATA and brought normalcy after decades of unrest in the region. The supreme sacrifices made by the people of FATA over a period of four decades have no parallel in the history of Pakistan. Although, FATA merger with KP took a little long to materialise yet it is a good beginning for the people of tribal region.
The KP administration has been afforded a grace period of two years to complete the merger process under the FATA Interim Governance Regulation, 2018 that was signed by the President of Pakistan couple of days before signing the historical 31st Amendment Bill. Prior to the merger, FATA used to have a share of 8 Senators and 12 members of National Assembly at the federal level. After the 31st Amendment, 8 Senate seats of FATA have been abolished and the members of National Assembly seats have been reduced to 6 from 12 as per population share. However, the incumbent Senators will continue to hold their seats till completion of their stipulated tenure. The KP Province will also be a long term beneficiary of the merger. An addition of 27,220 square kilometres of land mass and seven districts with a population of over Five Million will significantly enhance the political and strategic stature of KP. The number of provincial seats of KP will also be increased from a total of 124 seats to 145 seats. Similarly, the provincial share of funds from federation will also go up considerably.
The merger of FATA with KP is dream come true for millions of tribal people who lived under the shadow of FCR for over a century. Now, there is just one Pakistan for all and there are no more FATA, PATA and tribal areas in the territory of Pakistan. This is truly the “beginning of a new beginning”.
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