The Area Study Centre of the University of Peshawar and the Hanns Siedel Foundation (Germany) jointly organized a two day conference on, “The Current Situation in the FATA of Pakistan” in Peshawar on October 22 and 23, 2008. Many retired ambassadors, civil and military officers, journalists, academics, and area research scholars met to discuss the mayhem in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

Dr. Azmat Hayat Khan, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Peshawar, said in his address that the current situation in FATA is the outcome of our past policies. Brig. Saad Muhammad Khan stated that Pakistan cannot resolve the problem in isolation, as it is dependent on developments in Afghanistan and external elements have entered the area to destabilize Pakistan. While a counter-insurgency strategy should be multifaceted, Pakistan is relying on the military component only. Counter-insurgency operations should be surgical and carried out against known locations, however, indiscriminate use of fire power during the operations in FATA caused tremendous collateral damage. He further stated that the infrastructure in Swat is in shambles, and that America does not need to send it to the Stone Age, as Pakistan has done that by itself. He claimed that the U.S. is fighting a completely wrong war in a completely wrong way, while the next regime in the U.S. will likely have a better understanding of the situation.

Ambassador Rustam Shah Mohmand stated that during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the FATA remained calm. After 9/11, Pakistan plunged itself into a war it should not have fought. “We are obsessed with government writ in tribal areas, what about Karachi, where in some areas there is no writ of the Government. Pakistan should not allow its territory to be used by any group for any act of subversion in any country. There is a tremendous insurgency in the Kunar province. We should tell our coalition partners that the domestic cost of this policy has become unacceptable; it is destabilizing Pakistan to the core. We should strike agreements with the tribes and begin to pull out our troops.”

Lt. Gen. Asad Durrani, former DG, ISI, stated that the military operations in FATA are an effect of U.S. pressure. The government has handed over Pakistani citizens to foreign powers without diplomatic formalities. Brig. Mahmood Shah remarked that after the Soviet withdrawal, the U.S. neglected Afghanistan and it was beyond Pakistan’s capacity to clean up the mess of the last battlefield of the Cold War alone. Pakistan’s government policy is inconsistent; highlighting the human aspect of the issue, he said artillery is a weapon targeting entire areas, killing innocent people. After 9/11, the U.S. should have developed stabilizing strategies. Being a special area, the FATA system needs to be changed in a camouflaged manner; reforms should be introduced with specific targets to be achieved within a given time frame. The U.S. should give free access to Pakistani exports, textile etc.

Juma Khan Sufi stated that the Taliban have their own checkpoints and FM radio in Swat. The current situation created in Afghanistan by the U.S. and NATO is not in the interest of the people of Afghanistan. Col. Yakub Mahsud stated that FATA received attention only after 9/11. When peace is restored, the army should pull back. An overhaul of the system is needed but any sudden introduction of a new system will alarm the tribesmen. FATA should be merged into NWFP but large development plans should be implemented before the merger. The culture of the tribal people should be respected and we should ourselves decide what is best for us. Col. Yahya Affendi expressed the opinion that coalition partners should establish joint headquarters either in Kabul or somewhere in Pakistan, in order to overcome the current lack of trust.

Delawar Khan, a journalist from Waziristan said that when the government made deals with the militants, they stopped attacking the army but then targeted killings of pro-government Maliks (influential locals) started. Two hundred and fifty such Maliks were killed in South Waziristan alone. Over the last sixty years a handful of local people benefited from the system, while the majority remains deprived.

In the concluding session it was claimed that negotiations help to know who is who in the troubled areas. When there were joint military operations, the collateral damage was small, but when US started operations on their own collateral damage increased. It was also stated that militants are receiving assistance from actors in the Middle East and from forces interested in destabilizing Pakistan.