Pakistan’s tribal areas

I do not know of any county in the world where a territory is given a status similar to that of the Federal Administrative Tribal Areas of Pakistan, which is considered a part of the county and yet enjoys virtual independence. The government at the centre or in the province has had nothing to do with law and order, education, health or development in the area. The government has military cantonments in the Tribal Territories, locates its troops there and maintains communications and facilities such as water and electric supply primarily to meet the army’s requirements.

When Pakistan came into existence it inherited this system from the British who did not administer these territories but maintained liaison with the tribes inhabiting these territories through civil servants called Political Agents. These Political Agents dealt with the tribes through people of influence amongst the tribes known as Maliks who were in their pay. The system worked fairly well. The people remained illiterate and were almost continuously involved in inter-tribal disputes and strife. Sometimes a local leader rebelled against the government and the army was used to deal with the situation. The last of these in North Waziristan during British days was the Faqir of IPPI. His struggle lasted for nearly a quarter of a century, until mid 1950’s.