Whether to Be FATA or PATA

ISLAMABAD Feb, 07, 2012: Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the Semi autonomous tribal regions in northwest of Pakistan situated between the province of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Balochistan and neighboring country Afghanistan. The FATA contained seven tribal Agencies naming, Bajaur, Khyber, Mohmand, Kuram, Aurakzai, North Waziristan, South Waziristan and Six Frontier Regions (FR). The total population of the FATA was estimated in 2000 to be about 3,341,070 people, or roughly 2% of Pakistan's population. Only 3.1% of the population resides in established townships. It is thus the most rural administrative unit in Pakistan.

The territory has gained a wide coverage in the local as well as International media. The residents of surviving against the black law named Federal Crimes Regulations (FCR) since 1901 imposed by the Britain. The jurisdiction of Supreme Court and High Court of Pakistan does not exist in FATA; the premier constitution of Pakistan mentioned it in its Article 247 and 248. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly has no power in FATA, and can only exercise its powers in PATA that are part of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The area ruled by the federal Government on behalf of President of Pakistan and Governor Khyber Pukhtunkhwa.

The president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari has approved the Political reforms in FATA in last August 2011. In accord of that approval the political parties of Pakistan could exercise their political activities in the region. After the embracing of war against terror in Pakistan, the government has closed the circle of insurgents existing over here and trying to start a political set up here.

There are three optional ways to solve this problem which is about the future of FATA.

The first option is to kept the FATA same as existing, carrying political Agent and Tribal traditional System as well as the black law of FCR.

The second option is to engulf the FATA into Khyber Pukhtunkhwa but the FATA Grand alliance has denied this option already. While the third option is to make the FATA as an isolate province, comprising of all seven agencies and six Frontier Regions. But the third option carries a problem that these entire seven agencies are not adjacently linked with each other geographically halting the process of securing an isolate province. Whatever the decision of FATA may be, but it must be based on the opinion of the dwelling peoples. The government should take serious stops to solve the issue and to stop the extremist activities, cashing the dispersed administrative situations.