August proved to be an eventful month for the resources-rich Northern Areas and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), with the ruling Pakistan People' s Party (PPP)-led coalition government announcing reforms to introduce self-governance and to respect human rights in the strategically important areas bordering China and Afghanistan, respectively. Both of these territories have long been governed directly by the president and the federal government. Still more egregious, the Constitution of Pakistan does not guarantee basic human rights to these peoples, who are instead governed through a strong and powerful bureaucracy. Inevitably, this has led to a sense of deprivation among the local communities. For the past few years, political unrest and militant violence in these areas have kept alarm bells ringing for Islamabad. In this context, the reforms come as clear recognition by the federal government that the more the status quo remains unchanged, the more the situation in its fragile frontiers will deteriorate.
The geo-strategic and economic role of the two areas has certainly been increasing in importance. Two of the most critical concerns in this regard have been the allegations by some that US presence in Afghanistan amounts to a containment policy for China; and, second, Pakistan's impending energy crisis. Analysts now say the limited autonomy will ultimately pave the way for province-like status for Gilgit-Baltistan, thus allowing the state to tap its energy and other resources. Those in the know add that Beijing will be closely monitoring the situation. Indeed, the decision to approve the self-governance package for the region may not have come as a surprise for the Chinese, whose interests would undoubtedly be best served if Islamabad were able to calm the situation in the areas close to the troubled Xinjiang region.
No doubt keeping all this in mind, on 13 August, the eve of the country' s Independence Day, President Asif Ali Zardari agreed to reforms for the FATA. This would be a massive turnaround. Not only are there currently no guarantees of basic human rights in the tribal areas, but neither can the people appeal against convictions by the chief administrator of the region, commonly known as political agent, who can send anyone to prison without trial. That now looks set to change, with the powers of the political agent being reduced in multiple ways. President Zardari also extended the Political Parties Act to allow democratic parties to compete against the Islamists who currently are facing little to no resistance. Such forces are represented by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (Fazlur Rehman group) (JUI-F) and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), conservatives who base their politics on religion but also believe in a parliamentary form of democracy. Finally, the new regulations will now make a change to the longstanding functioning of the Frontier Crimes Regulations, under which an entire community can be held responsible for the actions of a few. Although this will generally remain in tact, at least for the time being, women and children will now be exempt.
No more Northern Areas
The reason why the Northern Areas remained de-linked from the rest of the country for so long has to do, as so many things do, with Kashmir. These issues will now have to be dealt with squarely. If Gilgit-Baltistan were to be made a full-fledged province and included in the constitutional framework of Pakistan, India could argue that the state it has carved out of the disputed area – Jammu & Kashmir – is also a legitimate entity, and thus call the whole issue settled. Indeed, India is not pleased with the new reforms. Soon after the package was announced, the External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi summoned Pakistan' s deputy high commissioner, Riffat Masood, to hand over a formal protest, which analysis suggest is also partially based in Indian anxieties over the strengthening China-Pakistan relationship.