There are still many paths to tread
The much-awaited FATA reforms committee’s report is finally out. The National Action Plan formulated in December 2014 had specifically underlined the need for FATA reforms on a priority basis. That we have been provided a draft of the proposed reforms after twenty months once again exposes the claim that NAP implementation has been satisfactory. The report proposes a 10 year deadline to bring the region at par with KP – which is an ambitious goal.
Among the positive recommendations of the report are: extending the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the Peshawar High Court to FATA, deletion of the collective responsibility clause from the FCR and party-based local body elections before the end of 2017. The resettlement of temporarily displaced persons is to be completed before the end of 2016, while deadline for the reconstruction of the region is 2018. The report lays down neatly the role to be played respectively by the government and the local tribesmen in reconstruction. Also how reconstruction activities are to be funded. Things look good on paper, but judgment has to await the implementation of the reforms within the set time frame.
Among the recommendations that need to be debated at public forums – including parliament – is the replacement of the FCR with a “Tribal Areas Rewaj Act”, retention of the tribal jirga system for both civil and criminal matters with judges appointing a ‘council of elders’ to decide cases in accordance with rewaj (traditions). Also included is the crucial issue of land settlement- involving the determination of individual ownership in a society where land is still collectively owned.
Plans are yet to be prepared for the development of FATA. The report recommends the formation of a special committee of experts and officials under the KP governor to prepare a 10-year Comprehensive Development Plan for Fata before the end of 2016. To avoid the delay which characterised the implementation of NAP and ensure that datelines are met, there is a need for a powerful monitoring body, preferably a bipartisan parliamentary committee, to oversee the implementation of FATA reforms.