Structural Violence and Terrorism in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan

ABSTRACT

The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan came under the international spotlight following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.Mainly due to being a semi-autonomous region where British-colonial-era laws were practised until May 2018, FATA remains one of the most marginalised and insecure areas of Pakistan. Based on Galtung’s structural violence theory, this paper examines the nexus between the region’s socio-economic and political realities and terrorism. Through primary and secondary data, this paper argues that economic marginalisation and the lack of political and individual freedom of the tribal people are root causes of the instability in FATA.

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful for the valuable input of all the participants in this research. We are also grateful to Prof. Jamie Mayerfeld of the Department of Political Science, University of Washington, Seattle, the USA for his comments on an initial draft of this paper. The authors also appreciate the feedback of Farooq Yousaf of the University of Newcastle, Australia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. FCR has been replaced with the ‘FATA Interim Governance Regulation 2018‘. Most of the worst articles of FCR continue to be a part of the new regulation, although minor changes have been introduced, such as replacing the terms ‘political agent’ with ‘Deputy Commissioner’ and ‘Agency’ with ‘Tribal District’. This regulation will govern the tribal region until the merger of FATA with KP.

2. Some 40 militant groups from FATA, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab united under the banner of the TTP. The major terrorist groups are: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMUN), Haqqani Network, and Al-Qaeda.

3. The major security operations in FATA were: operation Al-Mizan (2002), Kalosha Operation (2004), Operation Zalzala (2008), Operation Rah-e-Nijat (2009), Operation Serat-e-Mustaqeem (2008), Operation Khyber I & II, Sherdil (2008), Operation Koh-e-Sufaid (2011), Khwakh Ba De Sham (2010), Operation Zerb-e-Azab (2014).

4. The five agencies are South Waziristan, North. Waziristan, Orakzai, Kurram and Khyber. Out of the total amount, PKR10.708 billion have been distributed among the victims.

5. On that occasion, Jinnah said, ‘We want to help you and make you self-reliant and self-sufficient and help in your educational, social and economic uplift; and not to be left as you are, dependent on annual doles, as has been the practice hitherto, which meant that at the end of the year you were not better off than beggars asking for allowances…We want to put you on your legs as self-respecting citizens who have the opportunities of fully developing and producing what is best in you and your land. Pakistan will not hesitate to go out of its way to give every possible help – financial and otherwise – to build up the economic and social life of our tribal brethrens’.

6. In 2011, some reforms were introduced to the FCR. These included: 1) accountability of PAs to the auditor general; 2) the right of citizens to appeal to a FATA tribunal; 3) the accused must be brought before authorities within 24 hours after the arrest; and 4) women, children under 16, and men over 65 years cannot be arrested under the FCR or exertion of Political Parties Act 2002 to FATA.

7. Article 40 of the FCR says: ‘Where any person, who is likely to do any wrongful act or commit any offence, which may cause breach of peace or disturb the public tranquillity, is produced before the Political Agent or the District Coordination Officer, as the case may be, he may require such person to show cause why he should not be ordered to execute a bond with or without sureties for good behaviour and keeping the peace for a period not exceeding two years (it was three years before 2011 amendments)’.

8. Article 9 of UDHR: ‘No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile’.

9. Article 10 (1) of the constitution: ‘No person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest, nor shall he be denied the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice’.

10. Article 21 of FCR: ‘In the event of any frontier tribe, or of any section or members of such tribe, acting in a hostile or unfriendly manner towards the British Government (Pakistan) or towards persons residing within British India (Pakistan), the Deputy Commissioner (or political agent) may, with the previous sanction of the Commissioner, by order in writing, direct – (a) the seizure, wherever they may be found, of all or any of the members of such tribe and of all or any property belonging to them or any of them; (b) the detention in safe custody of any person or property so seized and; (c) the confiscation of any such property; and may, with the like sanction by public proclamation; (d) debar all or any member of the tribe from all access into British India (Pakistan); and (e) prohibit all or any persons within the limits of British India (Pakistan) from all inter-course or communication of any kind whatsoever, whatsoever, or of any specified kind or kinds with such tribe or any section or members thereof’.

11. Article 17 of UDHR (Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others) and Article 24(1) of Constitution of Pakistan (No person shall be deprived of his property save in accordance with law).

12. Article 13(1) of UDHR: ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State’, and Article 15 of the constitution, ‘every citizen shall have the right to remain in, and, subject to any reasonable restriction imposed by law in the public interest, enter, and move freely throughout Pakistan and to reside and settle in any part thereof’.

13. Article 7 of UDHR – All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

14. All citizens are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of the law (See article 25 of the constitution of Pakistan).

15. The Action in Aid of Civil Power Act 2011 protects all the unlawful and inhuman actions of the security forces. The act legitimises the detention of a suspected individual, taking over the individual and collective properties and imprisonment of the suspected offenders or abettors of militants (see Actions (in Aid of Civil Power) Regulation 2011).

16. FCR Article 30 (1): ‘A married woman who, knowingly and by her own consent, has sexual intercourse with any man who is not her husband, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. (2) Cognizance shall not be taken of an offence under this section unless a complaint has been made by the husband of the woman, or, in his absence, by a person who had care of the woman on his behalf at the time when the offence was committed’.

17. Article 25A of the constitution states: ‘The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law’.

18. Political parties Joint committee on FATA reforms comprises of 10 parties namely Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Muslim League, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Awami National Party, Jamaat-e-islami, Jamiat ulama-e-Islam, Mutahida Quami Movement, National Party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, and Qaumi watan Party.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Khan Zeb

Khan Zeb is a PhD candidate at the Centre for International Peace and Stability, National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan. His research focuses on governance,  peace, conflict and political development in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.

Zahid Shahab Ahmed

Zahid Shahab Ahmed is a research fellow at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, Australia. His research focuses on peace, conflict and security in South Asia. He is the author of Regionalism and Regional Security in South Asia: The Role of SAARC (Routledge, 2013).