LANDI KOTAL: Traditional pro-government elders of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas have welcomed the appointment of a PML-N stalwart, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, as governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, there are others who say that they have little or no hope of any good from the governor-designate in the existing circumstances.
Talking to this correspondent, former diplomat Ayaz Wazir said that Pakhtuns in general and people of Fata in particular had high expectations from the new governor for the resolutions of their problems and highlighting their grievances at the federal level as Fata was directly governed by the federal government.
“He (Jhagra) is one of the most experienced politicians of his party and people expect him to look deeply into the issues confronted by Fata,” he said and added that if he failed to come up to the expectations of tribal people then he would be no different from Mahtab Ahmad Khan who was always criticised by Fata people for his ignorance about their language, customs and traditions.
The former diplomat from Wazir tribe, however, apprehended that Mr Jhagra would find it difficult to work freely in an environment of military operations and thousands of families still awaiting their repatriation.
Imran Afridi, provincial senior vice-president of Awami National Party, said that he had little hope of ‘any good’ from the new governor as long as the army was present in most parts of Fata.
“Tribal areas are in a state of war and it is almost impossible to bring about any legal, constitutional or administrative changes in an area where the security forces are busy in curbing militancy and the local political administration abdicating all its administrative powers,” he said.
Mr Afridi believed that former governor Mahtab Ahmad too had failed to implement the policy of reforms as he was not in total control of the militancy-ravaged tribal areas.
“It is imperative for an area to have a political freedom and stable environment to bring about any administrative change in it,” he insisted and added they were yet to achieve that status of stability and the new governor with his deteriorating health might not be able to handle the situation properly.
But Imran Afridi’s argument was contested by Jamaat-i-Islami leader from Bajaur Sahibzada Haroon Rashid who insisted that Mr Jhagra himself was a signatory to a joint deceleration passed in a multi-party convention organised by JI in Islamabad last year which called for merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a repeal of the Frontier Crimes Regulation.
“Mr Jhagra in his capacity as new governor will be in a better position to fulfil his commitment and help implement the Islamabad declaration in its totality,” he stated.
A pro-government tribal elder, Malik Najeeb Hussain Turi from Kurram Agency, welcomed the appointment of Mr Jhagra as the new governor.
“As a Pakhtun and as a seasoned politician, the new governor is well aware of the plight of displaced people of Fata and he would do his best to bring back all these displaced persons to their homes alongside complete rehabilitation of the region,” he hoped.
However, an elder from South Waziristan, Sardar Jamal Hussain, said that PML-N’s top leadership had never been sincere to Pakhtuns and he was not sure that the new governor would be an exception. “Being a senior leader of PML-N, the new governor will also toe the line of his party,” he said.
He was of the opinion that only an experienced person from Fata could understand the complex issues of the region and the federal government would have done a great justice to the area had a seasoned politician or retired bureaucrat from Fata was appointed as governor.
Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2016