WAR-ravaged Fata deserves better. Last week, in a meeting with MNAs from Fata, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi pledged to visit the tribal areas soon and announced that “change in Fata is a must and the status quo must end”. But it is the PML-N government itself that has perpetuated the status quo in Fata by refusing to prioritise legislative, political, financial and administrative change in the region. As a report in this newspaper yesterday has revealed, the special committee to supervise implementation of the recommendations of the Sartaj Aziz-led Fata reforms committee has not held a single meeting in eight months and some members have not received formal notification of their nomination to the committee.

Meanwhile, the differences between the government and its political allies have continued. After the immediate merger of Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was opposed for parochial political reasons by the PML-N’s allies, a period of so-called mainstreaming was agreed upon with the eventual goal of considering a merger. But the mainstreaming plan, which the special committee that has not convened in eight months was meant to help steer, has also stalled, and the vast, new financial commitments that will have to be made to the region have yet to be delineated. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s disinterest in the process was almost inexplicable, until it is considered that he consistently showed very little appetite for a long fight against extremism, terrorism and militancy. It is almost as if the PML-N supremo wanted to be prime minister on his own terms and to address his self-identified priorities, rather than address the security and humanitarian emergencies in the country that his job demanded.

In more than a decade of military operations in Fata, it has always been clear that long-term stability and peace in the region would depend on ending Fata’s anachronistic system of governance. But as major counter-insurgency operations were being carried out, it was unrealistic to expect simultaneous governance reforms. In large swaths of Fata, however, the clear and hold phases of counter-insurgency have continue for such long stretches that further delay in governance reform may threaten to unravel the gains made so far. The resilience of the people of Fata and the bravery of the security personnel have helped bring a modicum of stability to the region. With neighbouring Afghanistan suffering from enduring uncertainty, the fate of Fata should not be allowed to slip back into the hands of militant and terrorist networks operating in the region. The government must act on its own plan.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2017