My first article following my visit to FATA last week

FATA is tamed and must be fully absorbed

By Tarique Khan Javed,

President, Overseas Pakistani Investors Forum

Dated 29th Jan 2012

From 23rd till 27th Jan 2012, I was in and around  Waziristan to check what was going on.

HOT MILITARY ZONE:

From Dere Ismail Khan I managed to reach WANA (184 KM away) the capital of SOUTH WAZIRISTAN (SW) after negotiating 20 Check Posts. As we entered the road leading to TANK substantial army movement was visible and checking started. Army, FC, Police, and Local militias were involved in thorough check of any one going in or coming back. NIC was demanded at every point and other questions asked. At three occasion passengers were asked to disembark and walk a distance to individually scan each passenger. This was quite humiliating but Waziries accepted it without any protest. (Wazir tribe which dominates Waziristan, have entered a deal with Government and now accept Government writ without protest) Two of my fellow passengers were denied entry by the South Waziristan Scout as they did not posses proper documents.

PLIGHT OF MAHSOUD TRIBE:

At that point where SW started I noticed a large number of make shift house on a barren plane. I was told that it was meant for MAHSOUDs who were still fighting. Those trying to get out of the completely blocked areas of MAHSODS home land are housed here. Later I heard painful tales of suffering of common MAHSOUD tribesman. They blame Taliban for their miseries and hope that Government will be easing their difficulty by relaxing the blockade. There resistance seems to have died down.

GOMAL ZAM DAM:

As we drove along the river bank we came across a massive barrier in the form of a very high mountain. The road on this steep climb looked like a cone and tested the power of vehicles fully. At top was the pleasant surprise of Chinese built power generating DAM called GOMAL ZAM. The view was fantastic as held water of massive quantity lay way below were we stood. Implying that a very large quantity of Water will be stored at this point and than allowed to fall a great distance turning many tribunes.

WANA under full control and peaceful:

Rest of the drive to TANNIE was normal as we came down from the peak of DAM site. TANNIE is a narrow but extended valley stretching towards BALOCHISTAN. Seventeen kilometer from this point was WANA which is a much larger valley.

The street and Bazaar was full of mud as it had rained and snow was melting. Mountains were covered with thin layer of snow and as sun shone on them they looked magnificent. There were number of Plaza with hotels. I checked in Shaheen for Rs 150. The room had a clean attached bath arrangement for 3 persons to sleep. It had no heating so even with two blankets, sleeping was difficult.

The traditional Restaurant with a heating system served good food. When I protested against no heating system in rooms, I was offered NASWAR (the tobacco based intoxicant) which is widely used by the locals, which not only keeps them HIGH but also very warm like Vodka or Whisky.

A POOR AND BORING PLACE:

The market was quite extended and the business seemed good. However I noticed the absence of Music shops as well as TV shops, while Mobile phone shops were few. Only MOBILINK worked with a weak signal. Some houses had PTV antennas but I did not see any Dish antenna any where. These things are discouraged by the ELDERS ruling the AREA.

At the end of the market lay the massive Military base built by the British in Eighteenth Century, but vacated in 1947, in return of the favour to support formation of Pakistan by the FATA elders. Three other Cantonments which were vacated as part of the deal were TANK, JANDOLA and RAZMAK.

Between the market and Base; a road to the left lead to the main residential Area. There was a very large compound with mud walls some 15 feet high. An impressive Mosque was visible from out side but I could not find any entry point. Houses around the compound were not so big and were all made of MUD indicating the poverty of the Area. Beyond the residential Area there were small farms in a rolling country side. The ice covered mountains beyond the farms was source of water as melted water formed small streams.  A cone shaped hill with a watch tower on top formed a unique scene.

A walk beyond the main market on the right side of the road also revealed clusters of even poorer villages all with mud house and Kunda style electricity ( no one pays an bill here) supply. With wires hosted on bamboo poles. Few house had small PTV antennas on top. Over all this was a very poor place.

SCIENTIFIC BORDERS AND EASE OF CONTROL:

Beyond the ring of mountains around WANA, I could see very tall mountains with snow on top. I was told these white mountains formed the border with Afghanistan some 60 KM from WANA. Britishers choose to have scientific borders rather than ethnic. They felt it would be easier to protect. I was told that there were only two openings in these wall like mountains and thus can be easily controlled.

Since independence till 2010, Government of Pakistan had no writ on the seven FEDERALLY ADMINISTERED TRIBAL AREAS (FATA). North and South Waziristan occupies 60pc area of FATA. Other five Agencies namely KHURRAM, ORAKZIA, KHAYBER, MOHMAND and BAJOUR are small in comparison, as they do not have the depth which Waziristan has. This is the reason why TANK, WANA, JANDOLA and RAZMAK were chosen as site for cantonments all within Waziristan.

With the help of these bases supported by large cantonments at Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu and Peshawar, entire FATA was controlled effectively. After vacating these four bases a huge security gap was created which in my opinion was one of the biggest we committed as a Nation. 9/11 can be seen as a direct result of this blunder.

EPI CENTER OF GLOBAL CRIME:

FATA became a safe heaven of all kind of illegal activities be it ARMS and DRUG trade, Kidnapping and Extortion. It was chosen by Al Qaeda as their base because no such place existed in the World where they could any thing they wanted without coming under scrutiny of a responsible STATE. After 9/11 entire Al Qaeda Leadership and fighters took refuge in FATA and lived happily doing their occasional terrorist activities.

RAH E NIJAT CONCLUDING SOON:

In 2004 ARMY tried to enter the Area but was repulsed; instead deals were made with tribes to evict foreigners but were largely ignored.

Pakistan started RAH E NAJAT operation in 2010, which resulted in ARMY entering by force in all Agencies except North Waziristan, where it harbored HAQQANI Group for use in Afghanistan after International forces leave. This created lot of tension with International forces leading to 26 NOV incident In MAHMOND. This has created a new urgency for concluding the mission.

MIRAN SHAH UNDER CURFEW:

From WANA I travelled to ZHOB (140KM away) along TANNIA valley. I had to pass through 7 check points, one of which was very thorough. From ZHOB I travelled to D.I.Khan and stayed overnight.

On 25^th Jan I traveled to BUNNU with a view to visit MIRAN SHAH the Head Quarter of NORTH WAZIRISTAN. Same night there was a major attack by militants in Baran Area of BUNNU, killing one FC personnel and injuring six.

On 26^th Jan tension was in the air. I was told that ARMY imposed a curfew on MIRAN SHAH on 23^rd Jan and that house to house search was going out. This was compelling the militants to come out of their hiding places and they were launching desperate attacks like the one on Baran FC Check post.

I was advised not to go further now and visit MIRAN SHAH after a month, by when complete control was expected.

With ample time on hand, I decided to walk to the border of N. Waziristan. I reached the TOCHI River about 20 KMs away which formed the border. MIRAN SHAH was just 42 KM away from this point while RAZMAK some 50 KM.

During the walk I noticed lot of support for ANP Pukhtunkhawa and PTI. JUI support was limited although few Madarsas are located on the road.   

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION:

A) After a period of desperate attacks the militancy is likely to decline substantially; as the last sanctuary of militants i.e. N.W is in the process of being run over and pacified like S.W.

 B)  The recapturing of FATA along with reactivation of WANA, TANK, JANDOLA and RAMZAK cantonments must be followed by urgent absorption of the entire Region into Pakistan. The over estimated resistance is gone and therefore it is the right time to do away with all liberties this Region enjoyed. Each of the seven agencies be converted into Districts, like ZHOB in BALOCHISTAN. They may become part of KP.

C) Political parties must rush to the REGION to break the current exclusive sway of JUI. With the confirmed support base under threat, Maulana Fazlur Rahman is seeking new support base among masses.


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