- Army and PTM must resolve disputes by talks
With administrative merger of Fata in KP, signed into law by the president on May 31, 2018 a long, painful and dark chapter in the political history of the seven Tribal Agencies came to a well-deserved end. Earlier, jurisdiction of Pakistan Supreme Court and Peshawar High Court was also extended constitutionally to the tribal region, doing away with the hated British-era Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), and bringing tribesmen into the legal mainstream. Though all the political parties, but two, favoured the union, opportunistic political alliances had stalled the measure, and in the end, it was vehement backing, both by the outgoing government and army, that clinched the issue, barely within the life-span of the exiting dispensation. But, conversely, of late, some dark clouds have appeared on the silver lining.
The Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), which proclaims itself not merely a political, but broader, social movement devoted to securing Pastun’s ‘long denied’ rights, is centre-stage of the controversy. There was past friction between it and the army over land mines, check posts and stiff military attitudes, but it seems freedom from the despised FCR has pushed the PTM to the other extreme of making uninhibited, highly objectionable, hate speeches, according to official sources, detrimental to public peace and order, and forced the administration on June 9 to impose section 144 and one-month ban on rallies in South Waziristan. In neighbouring North Waziristan too, a reckless PTM stalwart was earlier banished for 90 days for making combustible speeches against state institutions and local functionaries, likely to disrupt public order. The swift FATA-KP merger no doubt riled some quarters in Kabul and our ‘own’ Mahmood Khan Ackhakzai, still the PTM should build up on this major achievement, and abandon a confrontational approach, as peace has been hard-won after tremendous sacrifices by civilians and military alike. Differences of opinion should not be silenced by force, but with free, frank, open-minded dialogue, based on mutual understanding. Coming out of a ‘stone age’ political environment, the former tribesmen too need time, democratic institutions and economic development for assimilation. Still, ‘he is no lover of his country that unnecessarily disturbs its peace’.
