Execlusive
Interestingly, some extremist outfits are providing relief facilities to the IDPs – The JamaatudDawa (JuD), which changed its name to FIF (Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation), has volunteers moving through camp, providing ease to the IDPs. “The organization has over 200 volunteers distributing aid across Bannu, with 25 ambulances on standby. And it is not just JuD that is free to operate in this region. Just half a kilometer before the sports complex, a large banner in blood-red color bears the name of MasoodAzhar, and calls him the Ameer-ul-Mujahideen. The camp, which provides water and medical facilities, also has a queue of people waiting to see the doctor.” (Dawn Newspaper, July 4, 2014) This is, without reservations a volatile situation. These people living in poverty, displaced from their homes can be a fertile breeding ground for recruits. The International Crisis Group in 2009 rightly notes, “prohibit Jihadi groups banned under the Anti-Terrorism Law, including those operating under changed names, from participating in relief efforts.” This is as applicable today as it was in 2009.
The military operation in FATA has to pass through many phases. First is the weeding out of extremists. Then ‘holding’ the place to ensure it is clean of the extremist factor. The third is to rebuild the infrastructure. According to a report sent via a private source who has just returned from North Waziristan, “Infrastructure is simply destroyed including markets and residents. Now how it is implemented and reorganized to offer opportunities for the returnees will take some time. This is the in-between period where returnees do not want to go back because nothing is available and lot of restrictions are imposed in terms of moving around for any business purpose. They are afraid because bulk items are smuggled and through Afghan market being cheaper. Swat had different dynamics where all the commodities were available including water, good weather conditions and education level was way better. These issues need understanding. In FATA these people can’t survive like this. One of the failures of Mohmand Agency return was that major business is based marble factory and there is no electricity / water. Then why one should go back for dead business. In Bajaur where cultivation is major porting and again tube wells were powerless. North Waziristan residents are mainly traders and at the moment the infrastructure and clear passage for trade is not available. Same in case in Bara where authorities are asking so much documentation that they are least interested to re set up the market or business.
The fourth and most testing is the transfer of power to the civil government in due course of time. “New markets being constructed in Miran Shah, Mir Ali, and other places too. The accessibility is getting better or restoring back however, the threat exists and locals are not very much comfortable to go back due to suffer reasons including security. The main challenge will be when return of the IDPs will be completed with thinning out of military and taking over by civil government. This will take some good time to create tense free environment back,” writes another source on ground.
‘More than 300,000 families have been displaced from their homes in the tribal areas, mostly from North Waziristan.’(Pakistan Today, January 10, 2015) However, once the Army steps back, the mechanisms of civil structure need to be in place, oiled and operating to ensure a safe environment. Having a strong, well-trained and well-equipped police force is the backbone of security structure. Unfortunately, inadequate attention has been given to developing a quality police force-although in some situations, it has shown exceptional capability in dealing with the issue at hand.
ABOUT FATA
1) To know about the region named FATA, it is rule by FCR implemented
by Britons back in 1901, so the country’s known laws and institutions
have not extended it’s function into FATA calling it a lawless land.
So there were problems in counting the exact no of individuals. But
being tribal setup in North Waziristan it was confirmed that 1,04,000
families fled the valley with Operation Zarb-e-Azb. Counting the nos
as 9 persons per family so estimated one million individuals that
moved out of the theater. Most of them were not ready to be in camps
but 20,000 individual having troubles with finances and renting space
out of camp stayed at camp established in FR Bannu. All the North
Waziristan with the announcement left North Waziristan but soon they
were told that there are some peaceful areas where army is not going
to conduct operation like Razmak and Shawa. So families from those
areas went back there were 23 thousand families. About 81 thousand
families left as displaced families. On 31 March 2015 some of the
areas in Mir Ali and surrounding cleared and so 32 thousand families
went back home so far. Right now around 300-400 families are moving
back to their homeland and authorities expected complete repatriation
till Dec, 2016. Families of 26 villages are on the move this month in
June,2016.
2) As discussed above there are ------in camp but most of the families
among more than 40 families are living as paying guest in Bannu, rent
houses in Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Islamabad
and even in Hazara or other districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
3) Very bleak, again the tribal development has different parameters.
It took centuries to develop, the marketplaces, business, traditions,
cultural spaces and instruments all affected due to war on terror.
They had two basic institutions one named mosque, where religious
leaders “Mullah” took decsions regarding religious practices and faith
and “Hujra” where all the socio-political and disputes were settled by
“Jirga” through tribal elders. The so called war on terror has
completely washed away these both institutions. Mosques became centers
of terrorism and Jirgas were attacked, bombed and elders were targeted
and killed. So now there is a vacuum which will be filled by
uneducated jobless youth. So what people believe is complete darkness.
There are two major hospitals in NWA, Miram Shah Agency headquarters
hospital and Mir Ali Tehsil Hospital. Both hospitals with thousands of
families in the area are looking for doctors to arrive after operation
not a single doctor has joined it’s duty so far. Likewise though there
are schools and colleges there but not a single teacher has joined
duty so far. All patients and student depend on Bannu. SWA is run
administratively by political agent under draconian law known as FCR.
Under the law people have no right of expression. So here is the basic
if in a society if an individual has no right of self expression and
restricted by law how could one imagine even a ray of hope. So the
chances of restitution are not very bright.
4) There are around 4 million afghan refugees so far----but now the
government after Army Public School Peshawar, Bacha Khan University
Charsadda and Mardan where more than two hundred children and people
lost their lives and militant confirmed in Afghanistan by taking
responsibility that they sent the attackers and they are waging war
against Pakistan from other side of border in Afghanistan the
authorities are now adopting strict immigration rules over border to
Afghanistan and this has created lot of tension on border.
5) Very grave consequences on the Pashtun lands, where that is
Afghanistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa. More than thousand of our elders who were policy makers
and decision takers of our tribal society has been killed, more than
three thousands schools completely destroyed not only by militancy but
due to 2005 earthquake and floods. Imagine a school bombed in 2008 in
Shabqadar Momand agency has not rebuilt till date. The day or the year
this primary school was destroyed a kid came into this world in that
area he or she might be of five years of age in 2013, there is no
school where he/she went? Thousands of extremist unregistered
religious seminaries were established to cash the war and get cash
from Iran and Arab world. That’s the future. Our business dried up due
to continuous war, blast, IEDs, arrival of IDP like refugees, target
killing etc most of the families have left Pashtun lands and went
either abroad or to Punjab. Kidnapping for ransom is very common and
extortion money is now our regular culture. Most of the strategic
business positions and areas are captured by military owing it with
security reason. Our universities are pregnant with extremist teachers
and students connected to global jihadi appeal. The unemployment
spread like cancer and forcing the jobless youth to join militancy due
to either inspiration, need or revenge from the society. In a nutshell
our social fabric needs to be repair if it can.
6) That’s the main reason and the problem, million of afghans saying
they are refugees they visit Afghanistan, live there but soon come
back saying it still at war and there is no hope. Especially when US
announced withdrawal thousands of families got impression that the
west is leaving them alone as in past so they either moved back to
Pakistan or rather joined arm groups.
7) The issue here is a little complicated. Pakistan is a federal state
where Punjab has the major share. So Punjab is always dominant in
governing the state. So decisions and policy issues are taken by
Punjab and so Pashtuns are always neglected. Here again Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan are the provinces which feel extreme
deprivation. On one side they threatened by extremists and on the
other they deprived from their due share of power so in future if the
situation remained such and only Punjab developed keeping the rest of
the region in such deprived state obviously it will burst up like in
1971 when the country lost half or rather more than half of the
country.
