203 UNDERSTANDING THE POST-MERGER FEDERALLY ADMINISTERED TRIBAL AREA (FATA) CHALLENGES AND ITS IMPACT ON NATIONAL SECURITY * Tariq Mehmood and Mobeen Jafar Mir Abstract Merger of FATA was long awaited demand of Pakistani nation in order to mainstream the neglected region of the country. On 31st May 2018, FATA region was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) by the repealing 1901 regulation. In an attempt to assess the impact of FATA merger with KPK; qualitative study was conducted in form of interviews of locals of each tribal district. Five major domains were analyzed, the cultural amalgamation- Judicial system versus Jirga system, educational shift from Madrassa to national educational standards, Health standards from urban practices to rural practices, economic shift from free market to regular market and overall impact on national security including regional dynamics involving security situation in Afghanistan. Most of the respondents showed deep concern over performance of Government and slow pace of development in the region. Though some efforts have been put in, however the short comings in social sector are detrimental to national security drive due to its vulnerability to international actors to exploit for re-emergence of conflict. Additionally, the security situation is Afghanistan has direct impact on security of Pakistan. The U.S and Taliban negotiators are extensively engaged in peace agreements, despite sporadic clashes between opposing forces. However, needless to say; it is the country’s internal strength that can dictate level of impact of foreign intervention in that country. Therefore; Pakistan Government needs to manifest already planned reforms in social sector on fast track, generate economic activity and strengthen governance in this part of the country. Keywords: Merger, Governance, Education, Health, Economy, Justice, Afghanistan, Security. Introduction he Afghanistan along with erstwhile FATA region has remained hot battlefield T for invaders since 323 BC, however they faced tough resistance to continue their rule, thus the region has been named as Graveyard of Empires.1 The recent history of four decades has witnessed two major invasions. First, in December 1979, the then Soviet Union attempted to invade Afghanistan, however it was successfully repulsed *Tariq Mehmood is a PhD scholar at Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, National Defence University Islamabad, Pakistan. Mobeen Jafar Mir is a Research Officer at Islamabad Policy Institute, Islamabad, Pakistan. NDU Journal 2019 204 Tariq Mehmood and Mobeen Jafar Mir by locals of the region, who fought as a Mujahideen with U.S support, thus forced Soviet forces to withdraw from region by February 1989.2 Later in 2001, the US decided to bomb Afghanistan in the backdrop of 9/11 terrorist attacks on World Trade Center and Pentagon. The deadliest attack took the lives of 2996, whereas injuring over 6000 beside material damage of over $ 10 billion.3 Since 2001, both adjoining areas i.e. Afghanistan and FATA are transformed to conflict zone and witnessed bloodshed and almost collapse of political, economic and social structure. In Afghan conflict, 1,892 US soldiers killed, whereas 20,589 wounded in action, beside a trillion dollars expenditure and psychological and emotional impact on veterans and their families. At the same time, a devastating cost paid by the people of Afghanistan, where 147,000 killed in the war since 2001, which include more than 38,000 civilians. 4 While in FATA conflict, around 60,000 lost their lives and economic cost over $100 billion. In-fact the economic cost is assessed to be double of it as the conflict has resulted into collapse of business structure, joblessness, insecurity and lack of foreign investment due to security reasons. FATA region also faced criticism due to negligence by the Government in political, economic and social sector. The people of the region remained isolated from rest part of the country and restricted by their own culture traditions. Simultaneously efforts to mainstreaming FATA continued but manifested on December 14th, 2016, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly adopted a resolution in favour of merging FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with the goal of infrastructure rehabilitation and reconstruction. Recommendations to bring FATA on par to the rest of the country were approved by the federal cabinet on March 2nd, 2017, and on December 26th, 2017, the federal cabinet approved the formation of the National Implementation Committee on FATA Reforms. On 31 May 2018, The FATA Reforms Bill, in essence the 31st amendment to the constitution, abolished this provision, and in his final executive decision under the article, President Mamnoon Hussain repealed the 1901 regulations. 5 By repealing 1901 regulation the political and executive system comes as per the national system under 1973 constitution. President Mamnoon Hussain also enacted FATA Interim Regulations Act 2018, replacing FCR until transformation is completed. The decision of FATA interim regulations was criticized by some segment due to its variations from modern concept of law and was also declared unconstitutional by Peshawar High Court.6 The decision to mainstream FATA was hailed by most part of the nation, however some political forces such as Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam (Fazlu-ur Rehman) JUI (F) opposed the merger of the region since the day it was proposed. The argument voiced by the JUI (F) is that in first phase, people should be provided with basic NDU Journal 2019 Understanding The Post-Merger Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) 205 facilities including education and political rights. Thereafter referendum may be held to ensure due representation of the people. Almost an year is passed since FATA merger and now it is to be viewed where FATA stands today? Five important sectors have been analyzed as being foremost for the development of the society as under: - Events leading to FATA merger – Historical Perspective Impact on tribal culture – Judicial system versus Jirga system Impact on Economy – Free Market versus regulated economy Impact on Education – Madrassa education versus national education standards Impact on Health–Urban health standards verses Rural Health standards Impact on overall national security – Regional context Events leading to FATA Merger – Historical Perspective If we meticulously examine annals of Pashtun-dominated region of South Asia, like Pakistan’s province of Khyber Paktunkhwa (KPK), including erstwhile region of FATA and Balochistan, as well as certain other pockets of Afghanistan, it would become obvious that these areas have remained at the center of power struggle among different empires. Seleucus I Nicator, an infantry general under Alexander the Great, was the first foreign invader who overwhelmed the Pashtuns and ultimately merged their region into his newly established the Seleucid Empire. Earlier on, Alexander - the Great (323 B.C) had made numerous futile attempts to invade the tribal belt.7 Thereafter emperors Ashoka Maurya, Mehmood Ghaznavi, Muhammad Ghori, Zaheeruddin Babar, Aurangzeb Alamgir, Dost Muhammad, Hari Singh continued attempts to sustain their rule in the region.8 Later on, the British East India Company and the Emirate of Afghanistan locked horns from 1839-1842 in the First Anglo-Afghan War, and in 1878-1880 the Second Anglo-Afghan War.9 The war became a driving force giving birth to a great game-like situation in Central Asia by forcing the British Empire to cross swords with the Russian Empire.10 The British administration in 1871 introduced a new set of laws the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), later modified in 1873 and 1876, to manage the crime rate in the tribal region.11 The FCR is considered as a hybrid of British Colonial-era legal framework incorporating tribal traditions and customs (also called as Black Law), thus violating modern norms on International human rights.12. The August 1947 partition of the British Raj into Pakistan and India bequeathed the god forsaken and fragile Frontier Province and the tribal areas to Pakistan. The Government of NDU Journal 2019 206 Tariq Mehmood and Mobeen Jafar Mir Pakistan too maintained the status-quo by not depriving the local Maliks of perquisites they had enjoyed under the British Raj, thus ensuring their loyalty on the altar of grave human right violations inflicted on the tribal residents. In 1970s, FATA bore the brunt of the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan when millions of Afghan refugees poured into its territory, thus leaving its economic progress in the doldrums. The invasion not only ignited a fear in the tribesmen, it also encouraged them to put their heads together to design a roadmap to counter the imminent threats coming from the Soviet Union, thus the invasion became one of the primary reasons for the formation of Mujahideen against the Soviets. What further compounded the situation was the element of ideology giving birth to the concept of ‘Jihad’ amalgamating with the tribal avowal to revolt for the sovereignty of tribal customs and norms. After soviet withdrawal the Afghanistan region came under control of Taliban whereas, Jihadi mindset continued in FATA region. USA diverted the attention from the region after achieving the objective thus left the chaos on the mercy of people of Afghanistan. Pakistan Government managed the Taliban Government, whereas peaceful Jihadism continued in FATA region. The incident of 9/11 attacks resulted into bombing of Afghanistan, deployment of US led NATO forces and forcing Pakistan