Federally Administered Tribal Areas

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Federally Administered Tribal Areas وفاقی قبائلی علاقہ جات
Country	Pakistan
Capital  • Coordinates	Peshawar  • 34°00′N 71°19′E / 34.00°N 71.32°E / 34.00; 71.32
Largest city	Landi Kotal
Population (2008)  • Density	5,600,000 (Estimate) [1]  • 115.3/km²
Area	27,220 km²
Time zone	PST (UTC+5)
Main language(s)	Urdu (national) English (national) Pashto (official)
Status	Tribal Areas
• Districts	•  7 Agencies
• Towns	•
• Union Councils	•
Established  • Governor/Commissioner  • Chief Minister  • Legislature (seats)	1st July 1970  • Owais Ahmed Ghani  • none  • none (n/a)
Website	FATA

The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in Pakistan are areas bordering Afghanistan, outside the four provinces, comprising a region of some 27,220 km² (10,507 sq mi). The area has Afghanistan to the north-west, NWFP to the east and Balochistan to the south.

The Tribal Areas comprise seven Agencies, namely Khyber, Kurram, Bajaur, Mohmand, Orakzai, North and South areas of Waziristan and six FR,s(Frontier Regions) namely FR Peshawar, FR Kohat, FR Tank, FR Banuu, FR Lakki and FR Dera Ismail Khan.

Contents 1 Geography 1.1 Cities 2 Governance 2.1 Women and voting 3 History 3.1 Voting and Parliamentary representation 3.2 Rise of the Taliban 3.3 Pakistan’s New Waziristan Strategy 4 Economy 4.1 Mining 4.2 Industrialization 4.3 Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) 4.4 Irrigation projects 5 Education 6 Health 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Geography

The FATA are bordered by: Afghanistan to the west with the border marked by the Durand Line, the North-West Frontier Province and the Punjab to the east, and Balochistan to the south.

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.^[2] It is thus the most rural administrative unit in Pakistan.

The Tribal Areas comprise Seven Agencies, namely Khyber, Kurram, Bajaur, Mohmand, Orakzai, North and South areas of Waziristan and five FR s (Frontier Regions) namely FR Peshawar, FR Kohat, FR Tank, FR Banu and FR Dera Ismail Khan. The main towns include Miran Shah, Razmak, Bajaur, Darra Bazzar and Wana.

The 7 Tribal Areas lie in a north-to-south strip that is adjacent to the west side of the 6 Frontier Regions , which also lie in a north-to-south strip. The areas within each of those 2 regions are geographically arranged in a sequence from north to south.

The geographical arrangement of the 7 Tribal Areas in order from north to south is: Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Orakzai, Kurram, North Waziristan, South Waziristan. The geographical arrangement of the 6 Frontier Regions in order from north to south is: Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Tank, Dera Ismael Khan.

[edit] Cities

• Landi Kotal
• Darra Adam Khel
• Wana
• Miran Shah
• Parachinar
• Khar
• Ghalanai
• Hangu

[edit] Governance

The region is only nominally controlled by the Central and Federal government of Pakistan. The President of Pakistan is has the Authority only to Implement the rules In FATA.

He Appoints and Nominates Governor of NWFP who is Exercises the Power of President .

The Constitution of Pakistan Governs FATA through the Same rules which were left by British in 1901 as FCR or Frontier Crimes Regulations.

The Jurisdiction of Supreme Court and High Court of Pakistan is not extendable to FATA and PATA , according to Article 247 and Article 248 , of Existing 1973 Constitution of Pakistan.

The NWFP, Provincial Assembly has no Power on Federally Administered Tribal Areas . while NWFP Assembly can only Excersie its Powers on Provincially Administered Tribal Areas or PATA, if the President of Pakistan and Governor wants it. Even the Lawmakers cannot implement the Law Directly as it can do in other parts of Pakistan .

This has created a Political Vacum In FATA and PATA , which serves the Interets of Terrorists very well, as there is absence of Various Government Departments Like Police, Judiciary, Local Government's , and Civic Amenities . There are no High Court's and Supreme Court's of Pakistan . There is no State Writ there and is left as it is Deliberatily.

According to journalist Ahmed Rashid, author of Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia, it is in reality practically entirely controlled by the Pakistani Taliban.^[3]

The mainly Pashtun tribes that inhabit the areas are fiercely independent and Peaceful , until friction following the fall of the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan, the tribes had friendly relations with Pakistan's central government.^[4]

These Tribes are governed by the Collective Punishment or Frontier Crimes Regulations or FCR, introduced under the British Raj.

People of FATA are represented both in Pakistan's lower house National Assembly By 12 Independant MNA,s who are elected , The upper house of parliament Senate by 8 Senators who are Selected. Mostly by Amount of Money they Posses. FATA has no Representaion in Provincial Assembly of NWFP, Although they live a few Yards Apart and are Pashtuns .

Tribal Political Candidates, has some Party affiliations but could only contest Elections as Independents, because the Political Parties Act of Pakistan has not been extended to the FATA. However, tribesmen were given right to vote in the 1997 general elections despite the absence of a Political Parties Act. Previously They would be Selected by Tribal Elders.

The head of each tribal Agency is the Political Agent's who represents the President of Pakistan and The Governor of NWFP. The Politcal Agent wields extensive powers over the Tribes men and can give Collective punishment through Frontier Crimes Regulations.

According to a 2007 report by the New York Times, "the political agents are widely considered corrupt Bureucrats of Pakistan Civl Services."^[5]

Each Tribal Agency, depending on its size, has about 2 to 3 Assistant Political Agents, about 3 to 4 Tehsildars and 4 to 9 Naib Tehsildars with the requisite supporting staff.

While the Difference only in Chain of Command of each FR, Frontier Region's , from FATA , is that it is headed by the DC/DCO or Deputy Commissioner Officer, (for FR Peshawar, DC/DCO Peshawar and so on). Under his supervision there is one Assistant Political Agent and about 1 or 2 Tehsildar's and Naib Tehsildar's , as well as support staff.

Each Tribal Agency has roughly 2 to 3 thousands of Khasadar's and levies Force of Irregulars and upto 5 to 9 Wings of Frontier Corps Border Rangers or Civilain Armed Forces , for maintenance of law and order in the Agency and borders security. The Frontier Corps Force is Headed by Army Officers Posted By General Head Quarters of Pakistan Army, and it Reports to Interior Ministry of Pakistan and is under Federal Government.

According to a 2009 BBC survey, categorized as "grossly exaggerated" by the Pakistan Army which was fighting the militants there, the Taliban were present in all FATA Agencies, and in full control of Waziristan, Orakzai and Bajaur.^[6]

[edit] Women and voting

All of the FATA's adults were legally allowed to vote in the Majlis-e-Shoora of Pakistan under the "adult franchise" granted in 1996.^[7] Stephen Tierney, in Accommodating National Identity reported that women came out to do so in the thousands for the 1997 office, possibly motivated by competition for voter numbers among the tribes.^[8] However, Ian Talbot in Pakistan, a Modern History states that elders and religious leaders attempted to prevent female participation by threatening punishment against tribesmen whose women registered, leading to under-registration in the female population.^[9] In 2008, the Taliban ordered women in the FATA regions of Bajaur, Kurram and Mohmand not to vote under threat of "serious punishment", while Mangal Bagh, chief of the Lashkar-e-Islam, forbid women to vote in the Jamrud and Bara subdivisions of the Khyber Agency.^[10]

[edit] History

Historical populations
Census	Population	Urban
1951	1,332,005	-
1961	1,847,195	1.33%
1972	2,491,230	0.53%
1981	2,198,547	-
1998	3,176,331	2.69%

This section requires expansion.

The region was annexed in the 19th century during the British colonial period, and though the British never succeeded in completely calming unrest in the region,^[11] it afforded them some protection from Afghanistan.^[12] The British Raj attempted to control the population of the annexed tribal regions with the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), which allowed considerable power to govern to local nobles so long as these nobles were willing to meet the needs of the British.^[12][13][14] Due to the unchecked discretionary power placed into the hands of the jirga put into place by these nobles and to the human rights violations that ensued, the FCR has come to be known as the "black law."^[15] The annexed areas continued under the same governance after the Partition of India, through the Dominion of Pakistan in 1946 and into the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1956.^[16]

According to the United States Institute of Peace, the character of the region underwent a shift beginning in the 1980s with the entry into the region of the Mujahideenand CIA Operation Cyclone, Against Soviet Union leading to Fall of Berlin Wall and Collapse of Soviet Union .^[7]

[edit] Voting and Parliamentary representation

In 1996, the government of Pakistan finally granted the FATA the long requested "adult franchise", under which every adult would have the right to vote for their own representatives in the Majlis-e-Shoora.^[7][8] However, the FATA were not allowed to organize political parties.^[8] Islamist candidates were able to campaign through mosques and madrassahs, as a result of which mullahs were elected to represent the FATA in the national assembly in 1997 and 2002.^[7] This was a departure from prior tribal politics, where power was focused in the hands of secular authorities, Maliks.^[7]

[edit] Rise of the Taliban

In 2001, the Taliban and al-Qaeda began entering into the region.^[7] In 2003, Taliban and al-Qaeda forces sheltered in the FATA began crossing the border into Afghanistan , attacking military and police.^[17] Shkin, Afghanistan is a key location for these frequent battles. This heavily fortified military base has housed mostly American special operations forces since 2002 and is located just six kilometers from the Pakistani border. It is considered the most dangerous location in Afghanistan. ^{[18] [19]} With the encouragement of the United States, 80,000 Pakistani troops entered the FATA in March 2004 to search for al-Qaeda operatives. They were met with fierce resistance from the Taliban.^[17] It was not the elders, but the Taliban who negotiated a Truce with the army, giving an indication of the extent to which the Taliban had taken control.^[17] Eight more times between 2004 and 2006 troops entered the region, into South Waziristan and North Waziristan, and faced further Taliban resistance. Peace Accords entered into in 2004 and 2006 set terms whereby the tribesmen in the area would stop attacking Afghanistan and the Pakistani would halt major military actions against the FATA, release all prisoners and permit tribesmen to carry small guns.^[17]

[edit] Pakistan’s New Waziristan Strategy

On June 4, 2007, the National Security Council of Pakistan met to decide the fate of Waziristan and take up a number of political and administrative decisions to control "Talibanization" of the area. The meeting was chaired by President Pervez Musharraf and it was attended by the Chief Ministers and Governors of all 4 provinces. They discussed the deteriorating law and order situation and the threat posed to state security. To crush the armed militancy in the Tribal regions and the NWFP, the government decided to intensify and reinforce law enforcement and military activity, take action against certain madrassahs, and jam illegal FM radio stations.^[20]

[edit] Economy

FATA is the most impoverished part of the nation, with a per capita income of only half the national average of $500 in 2008 and only 34% of households managing to rise above poverty level.^[21]

Due to the FATA's tribal organization, the economy is chiefly pastoral, with some agriculture practiced in the region's few fertile valleys. Its total irrigated land is roughly 1,000 square kilometres. The country does not have a system of banks.^[5] The region is a major center for opium trafficking, as well the smuggling of other contraband.^[5]

Foreign aid to the region is a difficult proposition, according to Craig Cohen, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. Because security is difficult, local nongovernmental organizations are required to distribute aid, but there is a lack of trust amongst NGOs and other powers that hampers distribution. Pakistani NGOs are often targets of violent attacks by Islamist militants in the FATA. There is so much hostility to any hint of foreign influence, that the American branch of Save the Children was distributing funding anonymously in the region as of July 2007.^[5]

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (May 2008)

[edit] Mining

The FATA contain proved commercially viable reserves of marble, copper, limestone and coal. However, in the current socio-political conditions, there is no chance of their exploitation in a profitable manner.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Industrialization

Industrialization of the FATA is another route or remedy proposed for a rapid breaking up of the tribal barriers and promoting the cause of integration.^{[citation needed]} The process of industrialization through a policy of public / private partnership would not only provide employment opportunities and economic benefits but also assist in bringing the youth of the tribal area at par with those of the developed cities in the rest of the country.

[edit] Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs)

The concept of setting up ROZs in FATA and Afghanistan is an element in the United States Government's counter-terrorism and regional economic integration strategies.

[edit] Irrigation projects

Water is scarce in the FATA. When the British forces occupied Malakand they started work on the Amandara headworks to divert the water from the Swat River through a tunnel to irrigate the plains of Mardan and Charsadda. The aim was not to get more wheat or sugarcane, but to ‘tame the wild tribes’.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Education

The FATA has not a Single University in Entirety of its Area . All the Population is without any source of Higher Education. A system of Reserved seats are Kept in Universities in Pakistan, but cannot be afforded by the Poor to send thier Children there and is Failed and Ineffective method.

Nor There is any concrete Plan to Make a Full Fledged University there to Benefit them.

The Schools are In Dilpadated condition because of lack of funds and Furthermore 100's , have been blown Apart by Taliban and the Local people. The Frontier Corps and the Political Agent does not Feel any Responsibilty, to protect the Small number of Primary Schools that are present in FATA. Although ,They Wield Imense Powers of Even collective Punishment the Whole Tribe for the Loss of Government property in thier Area without Any Judicial Trial through Frontier Crime Regulation.

The Federally Administered Tribal Areas literacy rate is 17.42%, which is below the 43.92% average in Pakistan. 29.51% of the males, and only 3% of females receive education whereas on average throughout the nation 32% of women do.^[21][22]

[edit] Health

The FATA has not a single Medical University in all of it Entirety of its Area . All the Population is without any source of Medical Higher Education. There is no Big Hospital or Terrtiary care hospital there . The Existing Hopitals are underfunded and lack even the Basic Health facilties and Labs.

Nor There is a concrete Plan to Make a Medical University or Well Equiped Terrtiary care Hospital on its Soil. The people of FATA has to Depend on Resources of NWFP for Medical and Health facilties.

There is one hospital bed for every 2,179 people in the FATA, compared to one in 1,341 in Pakistan as a whole. There is one doctor for every 7,670 people compared to one doctor per 1,226 people in Pakistan as a whole. 43% of FATA citizens have access to clean drinking water.^[22] Much of the population is suspicious about modern medicine, and some militant groups are openly hostile to vaccinations.

In June 2007, a Pakistani Doctor was blown up in his car "after trying to counter the anti-vaccine propaganda of an imam in Bajaur", Pakistani officials told the New York Times.^[5]

[edit] See also

• Politics of Pakistan
• North-West Frontier Province
• Durand line
• Waziristan War
• Frontier Crimes Regulations
• American air strikes in Pakistan

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Constitutional Provisions on the Tribal Areas - Chapter 3, Part XII of the Constitution of Pakistan
• FATA Secretariat Official Website
• FATA Development Authority Official Website
• Federally Administered Tribal Areas travel guide from Wikitravel

v • d • e Subdivisions of Pakistan Provinces Balochistan  · North-West Frontier Province  · Punjab  · Sindh Territories Islamabad Capital Territory  · Federally Administered Tribal Areas Kashmir Azad Kashmir  · Northern Areas

v • d • e Administrative divisions of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Divisions of Pakistan Bajaur · Khyber · Kurram · Mohmand · North Waziristan · Orakzai · South Waziristan Disputed Nangarhar · Paktia · Paktika