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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.<ref>[http://www.nipa-khi.edu.pk/Dr.%20Arshad%20Zaman%20and%20Iffat%20Ara.pdf#search=%22pakistan%20urbanisation%22]</ref> It is thus the most rural administrative unit in Pakistan.
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.<ref>[http://www.nipa-khi.edu.pk/Dr.%20Arshad%20Zaman%20and%20Iffat%20Ara.pdf#search=%22pakistan%20urbanisation%22]</ref> It is thus the most rural administrative unit in Pakistan.


The Federally Administered Tribal Areas are considered to be one, of the most underdeveloped and backward places in the world, with standards of living compared to pre-historic times.
Most consider the Federally Administered Tribal Areas are considered to be one, of the most underdeveloped and backward places in the world, with standards of living compared to pre-historic times.


== Federal Type of Governance of FATA and Frontier Regions ==
== Federal Type of Governance of FATA and Frontier Regions ==

Revision as of 03:46, 4 August 2009

Template:Pakistan infobox

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.



Geography

Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)

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 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.


Administrative Divisions of FATA

The Federally Administered Tribal Areas’’’, consists of Seven Tribal Areas and are called the Agencies, which are from North to South:


The Federally Administered Tribal Areas’’’, consists of Six Frontier Regions as well , and they are usually Situated as a Buffer Areas , between the Settled Areas of NWFP and Tribal Agencies . They are from North to South in Order:

The only Difference is that the Frontier Regions, are controlled by the Deputy Commissioner Officer or the District Coordinating officer of adjacent City of NWFP. who report to Provincial Government , while in Tribal Agencies the Total control is with Political officer of that Agency .

Main Cities

Demographics

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

Most consider the Federally Administered Tribal Areas are considered to be one, of the most underdeveloped and backward places in the world, with standards of living compared to pre-historic times.

Federal Type of Governance of FATA and Frontier Regions

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 or Law making Body, has no Power on Federally Administered Tribal Areas . while NWFP Assembly can only Exercises its Powers on Provincially Administered Tribal Areas,or PATA, which are part of NWFP even , if the President of Pakistan and his / Chosen , nominated Governor of NWFP wants it. Even NWFP , the Lawmakers cannot implement the Law Directly as it can do in other parts of Pakistan or Settled Areas of NWFP.

This has created a Political Vacuum In FATA , Frontier Regions and PATA , which serves the Interests 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 in Tribal Areas . There is no State,s Writ Present there and is left as it is Deliberately.

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.[2]

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.[3]

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 Independent MNA,s , Members of National Assembly of Pakistan who are elected , The upper house of parliament the Senate by 8 Senators who are Selected by these 12 MNA,s. Mostly by Amount of Money they Posses. FATA has no Representation 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 of Pakistan. Previously They would be Selected by Tribal Elders or Maliks for Last many 100 Years.

The head of each tribal Agency is the Political Agent's who represents the President of Pakistan and The Selected , Governor of NWFP. The Political Agent wields extensive powers over the Tribes men and can give Collective punishment through Frontier Crimes Regulations. These Punishments are considered as not according to Human Rights Conventions.

According to a 2007 report by the New York Times, "the political agents are widely considered corrupt Bureaucrats of Pakistan Civil Services."[4]

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 up to 5 to 9 Wings of Frontier Corps Border Rangers or Civilian 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.[5]

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.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]

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%
See also: War in North-West Pakistan

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,[10] it afforded them some protection from Afghanistan.[11] 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.[11][12][13] 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."[14] 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.[15]

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 .[6]

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.[6][7] However, the FATA were not allowed to organize political parties.[7] 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.[6] This was a departure from prior tribal politics, where power was focused in the hands of secular authorities, Maliks.[6]


Rise of the Taliban

In 2001, the Taliban and al-Qaeda began entering into the region.[6] In 2003, Taliban and al-Qaeda forces sheltered in the FATA began crossing the border into Afghanistan , attacking military and police.[16] 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. [17] [18] 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.[16] 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.[16] 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.[16]

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.[19]

Economy

District map of NWFP and FATA.

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.[20]

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.[4] The region is a major center for opium trafficking, as well the smuggling of other contraband.[4]

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.[4]

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]

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.

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.

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]

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.[20][21]

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.[21] 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.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ Ahmed Rashid 'Militancy will not run out of steam'. BBC news 2008-08-04. Retrieved 2008-09-22
  3. ^ The Truth About Talibanistan - TIME
  4. ^ a b c d e [2] Perlez, Jane, "Aid to Pakistan in Tribal Areas Raises Concerns", July 16, 2007, accessed November 9, 2007
  5. ^ Pakistan conflict map, BBC, 2009-05-13, retrieved 2009-05-19
  6. ^ a b c d e f Fair, C. Christine (December 2006). "Troubles on the Pakistan-Afghanistan Border". United States Institute of Peace. Retrieved 2009-05-19. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ a b c Tierney, 206.
  8. ^ Talbot, Ian (1998). Pakistan, a modern history (revised ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. p. 2-3. ISBN 0312216068.
  9. ^ "Poll doors closed on a third of FATA women". Indiainfo.com. Press Trust of India. Sunday, February 17, 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Rabasa, Angel (2007). Ungoverned territories: understanding and reducing terrorism risks. RAND. p. 49. The British annexed the area during the nineteenth century but never fully pacified the area. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |ibsn= ignored (help); line feed character in |quote= at position 75 (help)
  11. ^ a b Bjørgo, Tore (2009). Leaving Terrorism Behind: Individual and Collective Disengagement. Taylor & Francis. p. 227. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |ibsn= ignored (help)
  12. ^ "Analysis: Pakistan's tribal frontiers". BBC. Friday, 14 December, 2001. Retrieved 2009-05-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Ali, Shaheen Sardar (2001). Indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities of Pakistan: constitutional and legal perspectives. Routledge. p. 52. ISBN 0700711597. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Ali et al., 52-53.
  15. ^ Tierney, Stephen (2000). Accommodating national identity: new approaches in international and domestic law (21 ed.). Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 190-191. ISBN 9041114009.
  16. ^ a b c d Crews, Robert D. (2008). The Taliban and the crisis of Afghanistan. Harvard University Press. p. 231. ISBN 067402690X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/fb_shkin.htm
  18. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=_6f_3DobpdwC&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq=shkin,+afghanistan,+most+dangerous&source=bl&ots=WOCr6_wvfZ&sig=tSVVTvPLsdcofhuAN2WE-4xOKag&hl=en&ei=GuxHSvr5HJ-ytweAtsTYBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2
  19. ^ Khan, Ismail (2007). "Plan ready to curb militancy in Fata, settled areas". Newsweek international edition. Dawn.com. Retrieved 2007-06-27.
  20. ^ a b Markey, Daniel S. (2008). Securing Pakistan's Tribal Belt. Council on Foreign Relations. p. 5. ISBN 0876094140.
  21. ^ a b FATA [ Federally Administered Tribal Area ]

Template:Subdivisions of Pakistan Template:Administrative divisions of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas

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