Waziristan: serve, don’t rule

Despite the world’s focus on them – albeit for all the wrong reasons – the federally administered tribal areas (Fata), in particular the two Waziristans – north and south, are cut off from the rest of the country. Everyone is aware of the problem of militancy there and the factors that contribute to its growth but so far no government has done anything worth mentioning to address the root causes of the problem, which have either remained the same or even worsened over a period of time.

The bureaucracy that administered the area prior to the arrival of the army on the scene paid no attention to Fata’s development. The same can be said of the military establishment, which has been running from one end to the other to counter militancy but has caused more harm to the civilian population than to the militants.

The few roads made and cadet colleges set up, and given wide publicity, do nothing to fix the 66-year neglect the area has gone through. The newly opened road from Wana to Tank via Gomal has already started to give in to harsh weather. If urgent repairs are not undertaken immediately there is every chance that the next rainy season will take care of the remaining road.

Despite claims that a lot has been done for the rehabilitation of the millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs), one sees very little evidence of that on the ground. Since the government has largely failed to provide them employment opportunities, people from the tribal areas are forced to relocate to cities like Karachi, or even the Middle East in search of livelihood. The little commercial activity there was in these areas has, unfortunately, been destroyed in the ongoing military operations – leading to even more poverty.

These difficulties are further exacerbated by restrictions imposed on them everywhere, particularly when they travel from the settled districts to the tribal areas. The road between Tank-Gomal-Wana-Sholam is a case in point. The way security checks are conducted is humiliating to say the least – reminiscent of the arrogance of the British ‘masters’ towards us locals.

Those who use this route to travel on are made to wait for hours at end on minor excuses seemingly to make it clear that those who wield power there are far superior to those who inhabit the area. Have we not learnt any lessons from what happened in former East Pakistan? Such attitudes only generate animosity and it is time these people stopped behaving like brown sahibs, whether in or out of uniform.

Regrettably the government has not bothered to take any steps to address even the smallest of problems the public faces alone resolving the issue of militancy there. The problem is that officers responsible for administration of the area usually travel by air, safely ensconced in military aircraft – in a manner that even most prime ministers of countries in Europe do not adopt. If for some reason they have to use the road they do so with VIP protocol and security arrangements and never experience for themselves how an ordinary person suffers at checkposts.

This agony is further compounded by the movement of military convoys on that road; these convoys, till recently, used the Wana-Jandola-Tank road. When a military convoy moves all public transport on that road is brought to a complete standstill. I experienced this myself while on my way to Wana in the last week of May.

Another obstacle that I came across was when I reached Wana and wanted to continue my journey to my village on the Wana-Sholam road. This section of the road was reserved for army only. Civilian traffic was diverted to a dusty, uneven, unpaved, rocky road in the dry river bed called Wacha Khura for onward journey. It took over half an hour to manage the distance – a few kilometres – whereas the other route would have taken just a few minutes.

All these restrictions are imposed on the road between Sholam-Wana- Gomal-Tank. This does not happen on the Wana-Kham Rang-Angore Adda road, which is on the border with Afghanistan and requires much more vigilance. Given its location, the security check at this point should have been stricter than at other places. Is the lax deliberate so as to to afford smugglers more leeway? The rationale of such strict security on the road from Wana to the settled district of Pakistan rather than Wana to Angoor Adda, on the border with Afghanistan is beyond my comprehension.

It is this kind of attitude of the establishment in South Waziristan that has widened the trust deficit between the locals and the armed forces. To bring traffic to a complete halt for the movement of a single soldier or holding up traffic for security checks on a daily basis adds to the gap that already exists between the two. Diverting civilian transport to a dry river bed while a carpeted one is reserved for the army’s exclusive use is further insult to injury.

During my three-day stay at Wana I was able to visit Kalosha, Sheen Warsak, Azam Warsak, Raghzai, Khamrang and Angoor Adda where I became aware of the difficulties people face as far as accessibility to officials is concerned. I thought I should meet the political agent as well as the military commander of the armed forces there to inform them of the daily struggle of the people of the area. The political agent received my call and gave me an appointment for our meeting for the next day but when I reached there at the appointed hour I found that he had already left for DI Khan without so much as a courtesy message for me.

Once upon a time political agents were undisputed kings of the area. With the arrival of the military, they lost their kingdom but still retain the brown sahib attitude. I was told the military commander was away and his next in command was too busy to receive me. This is the attitude of the officers there, who then complain of the trust deficit not realising that they themselves are the greatest cause of that deficit. What is needed is for them to be asked to change their behaviour and learn how to earn respect from the people they are supposed to serve – not rule over.

The writer is a former ambassador.Email address: waziruk@hotmail.com