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| Operation Rah-e-Nijat and peace prospects |
| Akbar Mayo & Havena Aslam |
| Military operation in South Waziristan is in its full swing. Public opinion about the Operation Rah-e-Nijat remains diverse. Though a substantial majority of Pakistanis champions the cause of operation, however, many respected and well-known experts of FATA affairs doubt the favourable outcome of this operation. According to their version of possible pay offs, only a military operation cannot establish lasting peace in the region.
They contend that the government strategy is devoid of certain other essentials. In this regard, they stress that unless some structural reforms are not introduced in the region, the plight of FATA people will continue to deteriorate and this continuing aggravation may lead the region into irreversible human tragedy.
Given the contemporary scenario, one cannot escape the veracity of their claims.Approximately one million population has underwent displacement due the ongoing struggle between militants and Pakistan army.
Among them more than 0.15 million people from South Wazirstan left for shelter right after the start of military operation in the previous month.
The other ones, who could not migrate, due to insufficient financial capacity, are suffering in the combat zone. All business activities in South Waziristan have come to halt. And the movement of residents of South Wazirstan is restricted to the walls of their homes. Though there are scanty news about the predicament of the residents due to restriction on media reach but chances are that they are on the brink of disaster.
In fact, the people of South Wazirstan are depended on other areas for food. The agency is negligibly sufficient in food items. Therefore the residents import most of food items from settled districts of the country. Similarly, the people bring other necessities of life from settled districts of Bannu and D I Khan.
There is already acute dearth of medical facilities in the area and now there is none at all. They have to travel to settled areas for the cure of acute medical sufferings and many a people lost their battle for life on the way due to four hours or more distance from relatively better medical facilities.
As there is complete blockage of roads to South Wazirstan, travel across the region is punctuated with dangers of loosing life due to severe fight between militants and security forces. Neither people could move safely out of this war zone nor could any help access the area. So the people are on the mercy of nature. Up till now, no persuasive prediction to the end of operation has been made.
Whenever the operation ends, it is also doubtful that whether the sacrifices of the people of S. Waziristan will bring lasting serenity in the region. FATA experts suggest that the government strategy to deal with the situation is flawed and might prove to be counterproductive. They argue that unless the political, administrative and judicial structure of FATA is not thoroughly reformed, the operation is a mere vent of public rage against militants.
Anti-operation voices demand a change in the way FATA is governed. Some international experts also emphasize that the militants in the area can only be tackled if local population is empowered.
Vulnerability of local population not only provides hideouts and recruitment facilities to the militants; it also erodes state legitimacy in the area, which already exists thinly.
Demand for structural reform is not new. It has long been suffering the neglect of rulers in Islamabad.
Today FATA is more badly governed than it was in British era or thereafter until the old governance structure was demolished when President Musharraf left the Maliks on the mercy of militants and gave a free hand to miscreants.
This decade witnessed the killing of approximately one thousand Maliks by militants which is a unique development in the tribal history of Pakhtun culture. The rationale of operation goes straight as far it is aimed at crushing militants.
However, if the government does not pursue meaningful structural reforms in the region, the militants will resurge again. For a successful outcome, the government will have to empower the people of FATA.
In this way, first of all merger of FATA into NWFP should be carried out so that its ambiguous constitutional status could be replaced with a clear one. Besides this all the laws applicable to the citizens of Pakistan should be extended to FATA so that equality before law and equality of citizens can be guaranteed.
Likewise, meaningful political enfranchisement should be granted to the people of FATA by allowing political parties to extend their constituencies in FATA and develop their vote banks through their political manifesto and declarations of commitment to the people concerned.
In the end, the government should focus on the rehabilitation of the displaced people so that their sympathies, which are necessary for the legitimacy of state, can be amassed.
The PPP-led government has announced a package of FATA reforms a few months back. Before this package is given an official format, it should be brought before the public particularly of FATA so that maximum approval can be acquired which is essential for the effective implementation of reforms. Undeniably, success goes beyond Operation Rah-e-Nijat as above discussed options are fundamental to any plan that could engender peace in FATA and across the country.
akbarmayo@gmail.com |
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