The National Assembly passed a bill today to pave the way for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to be merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). This is a feat for Pakistan Tehreek -i- Insaf, who have been pushing for the move for a while now. This notion is also an integral part of their 100 Days Agenda, which they revealed last week. While the passing of the bill is being celebrated all over, not many know the exact reasons for this. Nor do they know the potential pros and cons of the merger. So here is a quick summary of what this potentially means.
#Breaking ….#FATA is history #FATAMerger #Pakistan #GoodNews — Mubashir Zaidi (@Xadeejournalist) May 24, 2018
KP-FATA merger: 229 lawmakers voted in favour of the first clause while 11 opposed it #DunyaUpdates #FATAmerger #FATAReforms Watch #DunyaNews Live: https://t.co/WzGiFMYqsz pic.twitter.com/h81esdaRlV — Dunya News (@DunyaNews) May 24, 2018
Congratulations to Pakistan especially the people of FATA on KP #FATAMerger. What a great day for Pakistan. Bill passed to merge KP and FATA. FATA becomes part of the KP and FCR is abolished.#PTIforKPFATAMerger pic.twitter.com/B0lmWsnddF — Mushtaq Ghani (@MushtaqGhaniPTI) May 24, 2018
Being an important subcultural component of Pakistan, FATA is integral to national cohesion.
KP
Area increased by 36%
Population by 16%
Representation in NA by 30%#FATAMerger — Meticulous (@KarwaLadu) May 24, 2018
This is a major fact under consideration when passing the bill. The people of FATA are living under intense conditions, with the frontier areas being most vulnerable to terrorism and following clean up operations. Case in point being North Waziristan and Operation Zarb-e-Azb. The frontier regions are also governed on a special set of laws called the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR). Furthermore, under Article 247, people of FATA cannot approach the Supreme Court or register a case against any political agent. The merger will bring FATA under the jurisdiction of the KP government. This means that FATA residents will be able to appeal to the same laws of justice as any other Pakistani citizen. An increase in political representation can also be expected from the merger.
The FATA-KP merger is also important for security reasons.
Many Pakistanis will not be aware of fact that Pakistan Army & @KP_Police1 have worked tirelessly to make sure KP and FATA are merged, KP Police is ready to take security of FATA, big economic boost for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in upcoming days✌????#PTIforKPFATAMerger #FATAMerger — Sajeer ALAM (@SajeerAlam) May 24, 2018
Should FATA merge with KP affirmatively, the provision of security will be the direct responsibility of the provincial government. This might create greater accountability for security apparatuses to administer justice with fewer biases in place.
The merger might also be a great boost to economic growth and potential tourism.
This is beautiful North Waziristan. Pak Army has done a lot for the people of NW. Tourism should be promoted in this war-affected area in order to provide jobs to local community after the successful Pak Army operation against terrorists. #Pakistan#FATA pic.twitter.com/FuI09YZjpe — Dr. Nadia Mubarik (@NadiaMubarakPTI) May 19, 2018
Investing in tourism development is part of Imran Khan’s 11 Point Manifesto, which he unveiled earlier this month. If the KP government comes under PTI again this year, it may be expected that some efforts will be underway to tap into the natural beauty that FATA possesses.
FATA’s people, however, are ethnically and linguistically diverse, and this merger must not infringe upon their individual identities.
What kind of proof #Pashtuns need? Mr @ImranKhanPTI never comes to the Parliament but he’s only coming today to vote #FATAMerger as ordered and planned by his Masters in #GHQ, I condemn the merger, I protest against the merger & I reject the slavery of #Punjabistan aka #Pakistan — #Quetta (@ShahidPashtun) May 24, 2018
It is no hidden fact that the locals or to put it crudely, the natives of a place are often subsumed into the greater nationalistic narrative. And while having a greater national identity might be good for national unity, a suppression of individual identities is nothing but counterproductive to cohesion. These areas and the people are already marginalized. Great care will have to be given to the local atmosphere and the microcosmic cultures within when dealing with the people there. The overwhelmingly Punjabi dominated politics must not take over FATA. *Feature Image Source: Herald*