Don’t rush things in FATA

The recommendations of the FATA Reforms Committee are vague in some respect and their perusal shows that those who have drafted them are themselves not clear on many subjects. On the one hand they say it is well nigh impossible to create a separate province of FATA and instead they suggest its amalgamation with the KPK but with the caveat that this merger should be effected after five years. It means they have found some stiff opposition to its merger with the province and want a breathing space to neutralise it. The Reforms Committee asks for replacement of the nomenclature of the FCR with Tribal Area Riwaj Act. What is the big deal in the change of the name of FCR is not understandable. What is there in a name? What we conveniently forget is the fact that FCR is the codified document of the riwaj of tribesmen and without some of its provision the law and order of the tribal area cannot be ensured. Mind you, we should not throw the baby out with the bath water.
Won’t the recommendation that jirga system would also be operative along with the extension of the writ of Supreme and High courts to FATA amount to a strange contradiction? The suggestion to carry out Revenue settlement in FATA is easier said than done because of umpteen land disputes among the tribes who own them mostly collectively.
The only redeeming feature of these recommendation is the creation of 20 thousand levies which, of course, would be recruited from among the local tribes, for the law and order duties of FATA.
The government intends to place these recommendations before parliament for a full scale debate on them which s fair enough. It would be better if the civil society, particularly, those persons who have served in the FATA are also sounded out on the pros and cons of these suggestions. Needless to say, that FATA is a very sensitive area comprising a unique geographical terrain. Any change in its administrative structure for the good of its people should be well thought out and incremental after due consultation with all and sundry living in the tribal belt.