LUMUN-KPK Assembly

Topic: Formulating KPK’s Policy for the future

Study Guide

1) Introduction

a. History of KPK (1940-2019 Under Past Governments)

With its strategic location on the Indian Atlas, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, formerly known as

NWFP is a gateway for all historical phases and prospects. These expand into invasions

and are marked by political and social movements that continue to dictate the province’s

history in the present times.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the five settled districts of Hazara, Peshawar, Kohat,

Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan were separated from Punjab, and with five agencies of

Malakand, Khyber, Khurrum, North Waziristan and South Waziristan, were merged to

into the new North-West Frontier Province of India. This was commissioned by Lord

Curzon, Viceroy of India who had immense knowledge about the area and hence gave it

the status of Chief Commissioner province in 1901.

Since then, the province has known a long journey of separatist movements, the struggle

for political autonomy, later assimilation into the state of Pakistan and finally having its

name changed to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2010. The integration of the province into

Pakistan’s dominion itself was an aftermath of a referendum held on 3rd June 1974 where

Badsha Khan, a Pashtun independence activist, was faced with a choice to be

incorporated into either Pakistan or India. Instead, Badshah Khan advocated the creation

of a separate independent state called ‘Pashtunistan’, comprising of Pashtun majority

areas expanding into Baluchistan. This proposition was discarded by all majority
 stakeholders including both Indian National Congress and the Pakistan Muslim League.

As a result, the province was to become a part of Pakistan on communal grounds.

The consolidation of Pakistan was followed by a series of political amendments which

directly affected the administration of the province. NWFP only existed as a province till

1955, after which it was to be administered from Lahore under the One Unit Scheme. The

main architect behind this was Major General Ayub Khan, who declared that West

Pakistan was to be governed under one single administration. It aimed to remove the fear

of domination of one unit by the other and ensure regional susceptibilities of language

and culture. Bacha Khan and his followers considered the One-Unit as the main hurdle in

renaming NWFP as Pakhtunistan, granting of provincial autonomy, and due share in the

state affairs. They took it upon themselves to challenge the One-Unit Plan and struggled

for its repeal, which finally came into being in 1970. The province was later recreated and

lasted under its old nomenclature until April 2010 when it was renamed as Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa province.

b. Role of the Assembly Post 18th Amendment

As a result of the 18th Amendment which was introduced in 2010, in the Pakistan People’s

Party-led government, a majority of structural changes were made into the way the country

was governed. Several functions of the federal government were devolved to the provinces to

maximise provincial autonomy1. This was done, in order to allow provinces to govern

themselves in the way their elected leaders deemed fit rather than being instructed by their

federal overlords which inherently come into power through majoritarian means. Considered

a victory for smaller provinces who have not gotten a say in the way their own land was

governed; critics argue that it has led to the creation of a complicated situation. Critics

1
Ali, Yasmeen A. “The 18th Amendment Debate in Pakistan.” CRSS Pakistan, January 2, 2019.
https://crss.pk/story/the-18th-amendment-debate-in-pakistan/.
believe that the introduction of the 18th amendment has led to a gap of governance as well as

a marked decrease in the checks and balances that were present in order to curtail provincial

autonomy and maintain accountability2.

As members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, delegates must make sure that they

understand the role of the assembly in suggesting or implementing policies. Credit will be

given to delegates who understand this duality between the state and provincial structures

and, use them to their advantage.

c. Major themes of Discussion

As members of this committee delegates will be tasked with formulating policy regarding

issues of which a brief overview has been given in this section. These include items such

as tourism, civil rights, education in the province, among other things.

Tourism in the province is an industry that has immense amounts of potential, and the

government has initiated a process of adopting policies that will adequately utilise the

potential of the industry. Furthermore, a total of 9 projects in KPK are being initiated

under the umbrella of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, including Havelian-Thakot

Express Way, Hakla-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway and Suki-Kinari Hydro Power project

in district Abbottabad. The cost of these projects will be Rs.459Bn appx. The government

of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa3 has also proposed alternatives routes to the federal government,

so multifarious aspects of the province are explorable.

However, the KPK government has been mired in controversy due to Peshawar Bus

Rapid Transit, the project was initiated in November 2017 and is yet to be completed. The

2
Ali, Yasmeen A. “The 18th Amendment Debate in Pakistan.”
3
Cpec. “CPEC Development Projects Underway in KPK.” CPEC Latest News. Accessed November 7, 2019.
http://www.cpecinfo.com/news/cpec-development-projects-underway-in-kpk/NTUxOQ==.
 length of BRT track is nearly 27 km, connecting east-west sides of the city. The real

controversy arose after an increase in cost from Rs49Bn to Rs71Bn. Moreover, there has

been a large number of flaws detected in the project. 4

There is also an effort by the KPK government to depoliticize its police. The process

includes the launch of an online portal, introduction of technology into the department,

and introduction of new police reforms.5 Corruption in any sector can cause tremendous

loss to it, bureaucracy in KPK has seen a large number of placements and transfers of

high-level civil officers and police officials to increase its productivity and lower the

chances of corruption in any sector.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province also has a unique system of local governance which

consists of traditional jirgas and conventional administrative structures. The Jirga is an

ancestral part of Pushtoon culture, and major decisions made in outskirts of the province

are based on the Jirga system or influenced by conventional administrators of the locality.

Mobile courts were inaugurated in 2013 in KPK to expedite the process to provide justice

and provide service to people who cannot afford to travel to courts in distant parts of the

province. The initiative was labelled as "Justice on wheels." But there are still 200,703

cases pending in KPK courts (according to stats provided).6

There are also multiple humanitarian concerns in the region such as Honour killings

which are a major issue pervading throughout the province. Honour killings or r*pes

permitted by panchayats, i.e. rural justice system are strictly prohibited ethically and

4
Khan, Ismail. “Damning Report of Public Money Waste on Peshawar BRT.” DAWN.COM, April 3, 2019.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1473563.
5
Report, Recorder. “KP Government to Depoliticize Police: Inayat.” Business Recorder. Accessed November 7,
2019. https://fp.brecorder.com/2016/07/2016072769236/.
6
“Pakistan's Justice on Wheels.” UNDP. Accessed November 7, 2019.
https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/ourstories/pakistan_s-justice-on-wheels-.html.
morally. Moreover, Pakistan Penal Code does not allow locals to decide what punishment

shall be granted to accused; however, enforcement of such laws is arbitrary at best.

With regards to healthcare, the KPK government has taken the initiative to issue Sehat

Cards to families with a credit of Rs.5 Lac each. This initiative enables people to access

healthcare facilities. However, most public hospitals are outdated, understaffed and

compromise of obsolete technology. Furthermore, young doctors employed in public

sectors are most often now on protests and exhibit complete lockdowns of OPDs for

regularity in their jobs.

In terms of education, the problems faced by the province include, unregulated

Madrassahs which tend to preach without a proper course approved by the government.

Such vague and lose ended system enables Madrassahs to preach their own school of

thought and principles instead of those of Islam. Such pervasion of knowledge has caused

extremism. Other problems include but are not limited to the under-par performance of

public schools, corruption in the schooling system as well as the issues of ghost schools

and teachers. Even though after high budget allocations, public schools fail to receive

designated funds due to corruption in channels, incompetence and a lack of favourable

policies regarding basic schooling and education.

The province also faces humanitarian issues such as those of child sexual abuse, Honour

killings, human rights abuses against the transgender community and also includes but is

not limited to the rights of Afghan refugees. The wide-spread supply of narcotics and

their pervasiveness in the informal economy further supplements these violations by

providing the financial means to violent groups for systematically carrying out these

heinous acts.

The KPK government has also been marred by abuses of fundamental civil rights of the

citizens of the tribal areas. The issue of missing persons is the core of this problem. The
Commission of Inquiry on Forced Disappearances, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, observed 5290

cases and reports of missing persons. Also, 229 cases from FATA were added. A large

number of missing persons have been recovered, 107 still are to be recovered from KPK.

As a consequence of the issue of civil rights movements like the Pashtun Tahaffuz

Movement (PTM) have emerged. The PTM is an organization formed by Manzoor

Pushteen for the rights of tribals in KPK and Balochistan. The movement has emerged on

the surface with their demands of rights after the evacuation of the Taliban from

Waziristan. However, the movement has been involved in controversial activities that

raised questions. Halting the profiling of Pushtoons on check posts was top on the top

demand list of PTM. According to them, it was a disgrace to their identity and ethnicity to

be profiled in such a way at security check posts. In reference to that, NaqeebUllah

Mehsud was a Pashtun who was killed in an alleged fake encounter by the police. PTM

also demands justice for NaqeebUllah.

Another important area that needs to be discussed within the assembly is the integration

of FATA into the province as a result of the 25th Amendment. Delegates must address the

problems faced as a result of the merger, such as dispute resolution mechanisms, the

establishment of law enforcement agencies, revolutionizing the economy of the region

etcetera.

The implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) also serves as a major area of

debate that must be addressed within the committee. The National Counter Terrorism

Authority (NACTA) established as a result of the is mandated to devise counter-terrorism

strategy to deal with terrorism and security situations in the country. The mission of

NACTA is to unify and protect the country from all security threats. In the past, KPK has

been largely affected directly through insurgencies and terrorism. NACTA and KPK have

worked together for the recent decline in terrorism activities through law enforcement and
 kinetic military actions against militants. During the implementation of the NAP,

conflicts arose between Provincial and Federal government such as dealing with Afghan

refugees, operation Zarb-e-Azb against Taliban, and resource allocation to deal with

aftershocks.

2) Policy Objectives of the Assembly (Themes)

a. Economy and Infrastructure Development

i. Tourism

The present government of KPK aims to make tourism the next multibillion-dollar industry

of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. With a record increase of 63% in the tourist traffic, the government

plans to invest Rs3.7 Billion for the construction of state-of-the-art resorts to attract

International and local tourists. The government is working to identify new tourist attraction

spots, furthermore, acquisition of land for building of these resorts. Not only this but the

prime focus is to attract foreign investors to invest in the tourism sector. The government is

struggling hard to improve its low tourism index, i.e. 121 out of 140 countries7. With the

launch of website KPTOURISM.com, it aims to attract tourists to substantially support the

country's economy. It is to be noted that tourism only contributes 2.8% of the country's GDP

(on average) as of now. The government is also aiming to launch a Tourism Force for the

protection of travellers, heritage sites, and preservation of cultural and traditional heritage.

The KPK Tourism ACT 2019 aims for the establishment of KPK Culture and Tourism

Authority8 which will promote and preserve cultural heritage of the province. Alongside that,

it will formulate guidelines and measures for substantial tourism in the province.

7
Ashfaq, Mohammad. “KP Budget 2019-20: Rs319bn Ambitious Development Spending Planned.”
DAWN.COM, June 19, 2019. https://www.dawn.com/news/1489100.
8
ibid
 ii. CPEC

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a game-changer for Pakistan. With an initial investment

of $46 Billion-which has now mounted to $62 Billion- CPEC includes nine projects for

Khyber Pakhtunkwa:1270Km highways, 870MW of energy, and Rashakai Economic Zone.

The government is now expediting work on the western route of the project. The government

of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has proposed alternate routes for western route of CPEC as they

accuse the previous governments of denial of KPK's due share in the project. The provincial

government believes that these alternate routes will foster the growth of Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa and spotlight on potential sectors of the province. CM KPK Mahmood Khan

also said that he would take initiatives to make sure some projects fall under KPK's domain

to promote industrialization, oil and gas and mainly tourism; right Bank Chashma project,

North-South Gas Pipeline project, up-gradation of an oil refinery, road projects for KP have

been proposed.9

iii. Urban Development

Although KPK has been allocating a large budget for various development projects, yet the

government has been naive in the utilization of budgets in their respective sectors. Such as,

for the fiscal year 2014-15, out of the total budget of Rs.8760Mn for development projects,

only Rs.1863Mn were spent on Urban development which only constitutes 7% of the total

budget10. Yet, the PTI government is ambitious towards the Urban development of the

province. The PTI-led government fell into great controversy due to Peshawar BRT project,

the project was initiated in November 2017. With length of 27 km, connecting east-west sides

9
Cpec. “CM Khan Looks to Get More Projects under CPEC for KPK.” CPEC Latest News. Accessed November 7,
2019. http://www.cpecinfo.com/news/cm-khan-looks-to-get-more-projects-under-cpec-for-kpk/NTgwNQ.
10
Ashfaq, Mohammad. “KP Budget 2019-20…”
of the city, the government encountered severe criticism due to swollen costs of projects from

Rs.49 Billion to Rs.71 Billion. The diagnosis of major flaws in the project has been subject to

public and political criticism. The government has also been widely criticized by the public

due to delay in inauguration; disruption in traffic flow, and adverse effect on the business of

locals caused by construction.

iv. Industry

Major industries in KPK include Tourism industry, horticulture, power generation, minerals,

oil and gas. PTI government is thriving to attract investors to invest in its potential industrial

sectors. KPK government greatly emphasizes on tourism industry of the province, as they

believe it can support the economy as well as improve the image of the country on Global

platforms. Government is introducing reforms, constituting Task Forces, and passing

Tourism ACT for promotion of tourism. As a result, tourist traffic and revenues from tourism

have greatly increased. In the power sector, the government has completed 255 macro and

mini-hydropower projects and work on several more projects are underway11. In addition,

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's contribution towards the country's natural resources is 55%. The

crude oil production in 2013 was 29, 852 barrel per day while it reached 53,322 barrel per

day in 201712. MOs and contracts have been signed with foreign investors for the exploration

of these resources. Moreover, the KPK government has also proposed several new projects to

JCC under the umbrella of CPEC to foster the province's economic stability and growth.

b. The Issue of Corruption

11
The Nation. “Tourism Force to Be Constituted for Security of Tourists in KP: Mahmood.” The Nation. The
Nation, February 20, 2019. https://nation.com.pk/20-Feb-2019/tourism-force-to-be-constituted-for-security-
of-tourists-in-kp-mahmood.
12
“KP Has Abundant Natural Resources.” thenews. Accessed November 7, 2019.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/218739-KP-has-abundant-natural-resources.
 i. Policing

The KPK government, after taking control in 2013, has been working to depoliticize

its police. The process includes the launch of the online portal, the introduction of

technology, and new police reforms in the department. To revolutionize the KPK

police, online portal ‘kppolice.gov.pk’ was launched, which includes online Criminal

Record Verification, online FIR, rules and framework of the police. Some 22 model

police stations have been established across KP13. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

Assembly passed the K-P Police Act of 2017 on January 24th. It was a historic

moment as it is Pakistan’s first-ever provincial legislation related to the police.

Previously the Police Order 2002 was implemented in the province. Police Act 2017

is a mixture of Police Order 2002 with the necessary changes to depoliticize police to

ensure adherent working of the police. The Govt of KP has introduced new reforms

for women in police department too. Female officers have been appointed in the

model police stations.

Nonetheless, KPK police has been denounced in cases for its ineffectiveness to catch

the culprits and, being unable to set up their own Forensic Laboratory. Furthermore,

an inquiry by National Accountability Bureau was initiated for embezzlement of

heavy amounts in the police department for buying new equipment and construction

of police lines.

ii. Bureaucratic Corruption

Corruption in the government sector is a problem faced by all four provinces of Pakistan. The

main hurdle in our progress is bureaucratic corruption. To tackle this matter, the KPK

government established The Ehtesab Commission (Accountability Commission) in 2014 as

13
“KP Police.” Insaf. Accessed November 7, 2019. https://www.insaf.pk/public/insafpk/tabdeeli-ka-safar-
categories/kp-police.
an independent and autonomous body to combat corruption and to restore public trust in the

government. Yet it was dissolved after four years due to being dysfunctional and ineffective.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly also passed the “Whistleblower and Vigilance Commission

Bill 2016 in its attempt to curb corruption in government departments. Under the new law,

anyone who identifies corruption or financial irregularities in state departments will receive

as much as 30 percent of the amount as an incentive.” Also, anyone falsely accusing another

of corruption could be fined and imprisoned for up to three years. High-rank civil officers in

the province have also experienced transfers in efforts to reduce the chances of corruption

and improve the efficiency of departments. Although the PTI-led government is often seen

praising itself for controlling corruption in the province, inquiries are underway for

embezzlement in several mega-projects including BRT Peshawar, Police reforms and many

other development projects.

iii. Tax Collection and Provincial Revenue

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since long has been unable to meet its tax collection targets. Such as

the goal for the fiscal year 2017-18 was Rs.45 Billion, but only Rs34.25 Billion were

collected. KPK Revenue Authority (KPRA) could also only collect Rs11 billion during the

last fiscal year (2017-18) compared with Rs10.27 billion in the preceding fiscal year,

showing a mere 7.10 percent growth-lowest of all four provinces. In accordance with that,

low tax collection is one of the reasons for low provincial revenue. The government is

striving hard to attract investors from all around the world to invest in KP's tourism, mining,

oil and gas industry. The PTI government in KPK believes that foreign investment and CPEC

projects will increase Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's revenue generation capacity. However, the

government alongside FBR and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Revenue Authority have been working

to increase revenue and tax collection in the province by the introduction of new taxes and

tax reforms. According to the newly proposed regime, individuals with Rs20,000 to Rs30,000
monthly income will have to pay Rs1,000 per annum; Rs1,200 for the income of Rs30,000 to

Rs50,000; Tax on marriage halls, CNG gas stations, departmental stores, electronic stores,

pharmacies, hospitals etc. have been imposed. The government and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Revenue Authority aims to push its tax collection to Rs50 Billion by 2023.14

c. Local Governance and the Justice System

i. Jirgas and the role of conventional administrators

Jirgas have been playing a pivotal role in the justice system of tribal areas of KPK-FATA.

Under the Jirga system, a Council of Elders act as jurors and give recommendations which

are implemented by a particular political agent or government worker15. Controlled and

dominated by men, this outdated tribal judicial system, which has the ability to authorize one

person or a group of people with little knowledge of law to give death sentences and set

social and cultural norms for others. Decisions made by Jirga are also influenced by Frontier

Crimes Regulation 1901. For instance, let's take Abdul Wahab's case. Abdul Wahab along

with five others was ordered to be executed for he was found guilty by the Jirga in the murder

of Chairman of Qasim Khel Coal Company in Musa Khel; Wahab's family was expelled from

the town, and no one was allowed to marry into the family. This is only one example to

illustrate the effect of Jirgas in our society; history is filled with countless instances when the

law was taken into the hands. However, employees of various government departments from

the Khyber tribal district have demanded an end to the traditional Jirga system in the

erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and asked for an immediate extension

14
Akhter, Shahnawaz. “Collection of Sales Tax on Services Grows 31pc in 2017/18.” thenews. The News
International, August 25, 2018. https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/359312-collection-of-sales-tax-on-
services-grows-31pc-in-2017-18.
15
“Terminate Jirga System.” Express Tribune, February 2, 2019. https://tribune.com.pk/story/1910652/6-
terminate-jirga-system/.
of the jurisdiction of the judiciary to those areas16. Just as Jirgas, Panchayat in rural areas also

invigorate biased justice which is subject to women of the parties seeking justice. The local

jirgas and panchayat being the hub of anti-women practices have wreaked havoc in the lives

of girls and women. In 2015, in Diamer Gilgit-Baltistan, a jirga barred 12,000 women from

voting in elections. Among other inhumane and oppressive customs is give away of women

in return for compensation to resolve matters. A brother can free his head from execution by

giving away his sister(s), a rapist can escape penalty by offering his sister, wife for rape; and

the worst part, in most cases, it is ordered by the Panchayat or Jirga to do so. Continued

existence of panchayats and jirgas in our society, reinforces their unjust and barbaric acts

towards women. It is to be noted that there is no provision in the Pakistan Penal Code that

legitimizes Panchayats or any other sort of self-proclaimed justice. The Supreme Court

declared the Jirga and Panchayat systems illegal in January 2019 as it was violation of Article

4, 6, 8 10(a), 25, and 175(a) and international agreements17.

ii. Mobile Courts and their relevance

Mobile courts were inaugurated in 2013 in KPK to expedite the process to provide justice.

The initiative was labelled as "Justice on wheels." The judge in a mobile court acts swiftly

and give his ruling within a very short period of time -less than an hour or few minutes-

ensuring justice was on wheels. Presence of courts in the outstation acts as one of the main

reasons for pervasion and presence of Panchayat and Jirgas in rural areas till date. “The high

court was planning to set up 11 mobile courts in the province. Four of the mobile courts had

to be set up in the central districts, two each in Hazara and southern districts and three in

Malakand division.” Mobile courts were established in order to reduce the influence of

Panchayat and Tribal leaders in the justice process. Yet, it was labelled as dysfunctional in

16
Ibid
17
“SC Declares Panchayat, Jirga System as Illegal.” Dunya News. Accessed November 7, 2019.
https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/474661-SC-declares-panchayat-jirga-system-as-illegal.
2014. One of the major hurdles in the functioning of the mobile court is lack of legislation in

its support. Registrar Peshawar High Court added that the mobile service was parked due to

security conditions across the province, but service could be restarted in future. As a matter

of fact, there are still 200,703 cases pending in KPK courts18.

d. Healthcare

“When it comes to the provincial governments’ performance in the health service provision

during the last five years, one can see a visible change in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where the

level of satisfaction with public health services is higher than in other areas.”19 (Herald) The

public perception about the healthcare provision in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is way better than

the national average. According to majority of the public opinion, the healthcare facilities at

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is termed as average while the remaining classified it below average.

The government has taken initiatives like the Sehat Sahulat program. It is the KP

government’s flagship health insurance based on the methodology of Benazir Income

Support Program. “This insurance allows households to utilize up to Rs540,000 per year, for

medical treatment and medicines, at public and private hospitals across the province.”20

Despite this rather positive government decision making, a large portion of the population is

still under the view that the provincial government needs to spend more on health services.

This coincides with the lack of medical supplies and the recent strike of young doctors across

the province. “Since September 27, the doctors have withdrawn services to the outpatient

departments (OPDs), operation theatres, pathology and radiology departments of the

hospitals. Most of the doctors said they were willing to attend OPDs but were unable to do so

18
Khan, Hidayat. “Pending Cases K-P’s Lower Courts Groan under Massive Backlog.” Express Tribune,
September 10, 2018. https://tribune.com.pk/story/1799331/1-pending-cases-k-ps-lower-courts-groan-
massive-backlog/.
19
Herald Special: State of Healthcare in Pakistan
20
Ibid
as they were feeling insecure from the protesting colleagues, particularly paramedics and no-

technical staff.”21

“They demanded an end to victimization of employees of different hospitals in the province,

the resignation of FIR against provincial health minister, action against the officials involved

in the use of police force against the protesting doctors, and removal of Nausherwan Barki.”
22
Moreover, the doctors are unhappy about the recent passing of the bill in the provincial

assembly regarding the privatization of health care.

The public sector hospitals suffer continuously with lack of management, medical facilities,

doctors as well as the equipment required to facilitate the growing number of patients. The

government introduced the MTI act, which aimed to deal with this issue. According to the

Prime Minister, Imran Khan, the MTI act is an improved and modern management of public

sector hospitals23. It is based on the government’s public sector reformation plan and does not

include privatization of public hospitals. Still, however, the public opinion and the doctors are

unhappy with the decision making with regards to the management of public hospitals. This

was followed by opposition by medical practitioners, political parties and social circles who

saw this as an easy escape from the problems with healthcare in the province.

Even with more government spending on the health sector, significant changes are yet to be

made in order to ensure that the KP’s healthcare does not suffer at the cost of

mismanagement and budget deficit. There is heated debate to have a centralized system

mirroring the National Health Services in the United Kingdom rather than the reformatory

action proposed by the government.

21
Ibid
22
Ibid
23
Report, Dawn. “Notices Issued to Eight Doctors as Strike Continues at KP Hospitals.” DAWN.COM, October
10, 2019. https://www.dawn.com/news/1510000/notices-issued-to-eight-doctors-as-strike-continues-at-kp-
hospitals.
 e. Education

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has approximately 7,000 private schools which include a diverse range

of students in those faculties is 1.71 million, which can be further identified being 1.18

million boys and 0.53 million girls. “Out of those, 183,412 are enrolled in number one

faculties; 447,935 in center schools; 722,524 in excessive faculties and 359,541 in higher

secondary faculties, according to records dating to the annual year 2015-2016.”24

There are numerous problems that impact the working of the higher education department of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and various factors come into play to sabotage the smooth execution of

laws and reforms within the province.

i. Unregulated Madressahs and the spread of extremism

With the madrassa education still prominent among the populace, it continues to stand as an

independent authority in the region. The government’s minimal intervention and PTI’s

supposed ‘soft spot’ for Taliban and anti-US military groups contributes to the growing

influence. This in turn has been linked to the propagation of extremism in the region,

especially after the rise of religious groups such as the Tehreek-e- Taliban Pakistan.25 The

question of government intervention becomes a matter of critical debate and proper

consensus is to be reached in order to regulate the madrassa’s and scrutinize their role in

education26.

24
Rehman, Abdul, Luan Jingdong, and Imran Hussain. “The Province-Wise Literacy Rate in Pakistan and Its
Impact on the Economy.” Pacific Science Review B: Humanities and Social Sciences. Elsevier, September 27,
2016. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405883116300247.
25
Abbasi, Kashif. “New Report Reveals One-Tenth of All Children Enrolled in Madressahs.” DAWN.COM, April
22, 2015. https://www.dawn.com/news/1177473.
26
“KPK Government Brings Revolutionary Changes in Education Sector.” Global Village Space, May 2, 2019.
https://www.globalvillagespace.com/kpk-government-brings-revolutionary-changes-in-education-sector/.
Can Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, afford such major shakeups in an already shakily performing

sector? With deplorably low budget spending, can it promise better education for its entire

population? Is Pakistan ready and willing for yet another nationalisation move, after the first

one failed miserably and is thought to be the reason behind the country’s decadent education

standard?

ii. Issues faced by public schools

The state of both private and public schools has been a center of heated debate. With PTI

government being the sole stakeholder in the provincial government, the betterment of public

schools is yet to see significant progress. A survey, which concluded in May 2016, unveiled

the fact that almost half of the students that were withdrawn from private schools came from

poor families due to their inability to pay their fees.. “… [H]households said that it had

become too expensive for them to continue sending their child to private schools,” stated the

survey27.

“Another 28 per cent of the parents surveyed believed that the quality or standard of private

schools was low due to which they had enrolled their children in government schools. The

reason for changing schools even in this case is not because of an improved quality or

standard of education at government schools. The remaining 22 per cent of parents shifted

their children out of private schools for reasons including: opposition to co-education (four

per cent), distance between their home and school (three per cent), children being weak in

studies (four per cent), absence of value for money (three per cent) and inadequate

infrastructure/basic facilities (two per cent).”28 These issues underscore the state of private

28
“The Province-Wise Literacy Rate in Pakistan…”
schooling in the province, more than they highlight the improved standards of government

schooling.

However, there are still no strong laws for oversight over the mammoth education sector. The

government has been approached repeatedly, by parents, for their complaints regarding

private schools. Due to the absence of these laws, the government continues to have its hands

tied. “The law that regulates private schools – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Registration and

Functioning of Private Educational Institutions Ordinance, 2001 – is seen by educationists

and officials as weak and flawed”29. It provides for little more than the setting up of

regulatory authorities with the same territorial jurisdiction as the seven examination boards in

the province. A law increasing regulations has been in the process of formulation but is yet to

be passed by the provincial government.

On the other hand, owing to low student enrolment because of public distrust, the elementary

and secondary education department has closed around 1,000 government primary schools

across the province. As a result, private school owners now fear that the government action

would compel them to shift resources to other provinces. This conflict of interest that involve

private schools, parents and the government further add to the lack of interest towards

education.

With the administrative control of ‘non-compliant’ in use, the school are taken over by the

provincial government. It further implies that the cost of the school buildings as well as the

cost of teacher employability is to be borne by the state. With the government struggling to

increase enrolment and utilize budgetary allocations appropriately, the execution of these

schools is still in question.

iii. Areas still devoid of basic primary school education

29
Mahfooz, Shabana. “Education Row in KPK.” Pakistan Today. Accessed November 7, 2019.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/05/07/education-row-in-kpk/.
Access to schools, particularly in rural areas, quality of education, governance of schools and

gender equity in enrolment continue to pose problems. According to the government, a

comprehensive education sector reform program is in place to address them.

The government is said to have set up “1,400 community schools in far-off areas. It is also

establishing smart schools (housed in containers)30 to save time required for setting up bricks-

and-mortar schools. Over two billion rupees have been allocated for smart schools in the

provincial budget for 2016-2017.”31 The government believes that these actions will play a

significant part in in improving the accessibility of education.

Neither the private sector nor the public on its own can carry the burden of educating coming

generations in a way that they could propel the country in the league of developing nations.

Only improved and responsible state-run schools, together with a fair regulatory system

which balances the interests of both the private sector and the parental body, can help achieve

the goal of providing quality education across the country.

Since 2013, the Government of KP has spent more than PKR 7 billion on provision of

furniture to government schools, reflecting its commitment to provide students with a

conducive learning environment. Moreover, it has insisted on expanding the scope of

education to rural areas which is to be supported by increased funding. 32

“The total spending for the provision of missing facilities in schools has surpassed the PKR

21 billion mark. Migration from private schools to public schools is a strong indicator of

30
Deutsche Welle. “Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa - a Difficult Province to Govern: DW: 09.03.2018.”
DW.COM. Accessed November 7, 2019. https://www.dw.com/en/pakistans-khyber-pakhtunkhwa-a-difficult-
province-to-govern/a-42913082.
31
Ibid
32
Ashfaq, Mohammad. “Public vs Private Schools: KP's Fight for Educational Reform.” Herald Magazine,
November 15, 2016. https://herald.dawn.com/news/1153590.
improvement in the quality of public schools in the province. Just in the last two years,

151,000 private school students moved to government run schools.”33

iv. Ghost Schools and Teachers issue

One of the predominant problems in primary schools in the province – numbering around

23,000 – is the unavailability of trained teachers. Complying to the official policy under the

provincial education department, the teachers are required to teach in English alone. This

becomes problematic with the lack of formal education among the hired faculty. This is

coupled up with the absence of teachers from schools which further deteriorates the state of

education. Amongst other things, the government has set up an independent monitoring unit

to ensure the presence of teachers at school. Despite considerable progress in this department,

more needs to be done in order to ensure that schools have regular faculty and undisruptive

educational terms.

f. Addressing Humanitarian Issues and Drug Related Crimes

i. Child Sexual Abuse

Due to the recent unearthing of cases in Mardan and Kasur, there have been ongoing talks

about its widespread prevalence. These cases, however, are just the handful that have come

under the spotlight, with numerous other cases filed with a government body over the past

years. “District-wise data from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Child Protection and Welfare

Commission (KPCPWC) show that as many as 222 cases of sexual violence and abuse

against children were reported from May 2011 to December 2017 across the province. Of

33
Ibid
these, twice as many boys were victims as compared to girls, with 155 cases registered for

sexual abuse of boys and 67 for abuse of girls.”34

However, Jehanzaib Khan, the regional manager for non-governmental organisation (NGO)

Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), has claimed that the actual

number of sexual abuse cases against children in the province is far more than just 222,

complying to the daily average of sexual abuse cases in Pakistan being 11. Talking about the

profile of children who most frequently fall prey to abusers, it is usually children working as

labourers or those working in people’s homes.

Even as the K-P government and police have sprung into action in the wake of the rape and

murder of a four-year-old girl in Mardan, the government has yet to take serious steps to

prevent such cruel acts from taking place in the first place. Considering the K-P Child and

Welfare Act 201035, the government was bound to set up a provincial child protection

commission which would in turn set up child protection units at the district level. This is yet

to be implemented. Along with this, the provincial government in cooperation with the law

enforcement agencies is looking for means to counteract the occurrence of such atrocities.

ii. Widespread supply of Narcotics

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is currently going through rising rates of drug abuse. According to the

most recent report on the country by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

(UNODC), “Drug Use in Pakistan 2013, there are 6.7 million people who use illicit

substances, of which 4.25 million are considered drug dependent. UNODC calculates that

34
Zia, Asad. “Sexual Abuse of Children.” Express Tribune, January 29, 2018.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1621044/1-sexual-abuse-children-222-cases-registered-k-p-six-years/.

35
Ibid
more than 800,000 Pakistanis aged between 15 and 64 use heroin regularly and that there are

almost five million cannabis users addicted to smoking high-grade hashish called charas”36.

Senior KP officials said they asked religious scholars to support their campaign against drugs

because ulema have a major influence on society and can elevate the causes they support37.

This ensures a wide-ranging effort with the aim to tackle the issue more efficiently.

iii. Honour Killings

An increase in the number of honour killings has been noticed in KPK.. “There is a surge in

the number of women killed in the name of Honour in the current year,” says Erfaan Hussain

Babak, head of The Awakening, a nongovernmental organization based in Mingora38.

Women’s rights advocates in Peshawar, the provincial capital, say that since February 1 at

least 11 women were killed in the city and the nearby districts of Nowshera and Charsadda.

On the other hand, multiple institutions of the state such as the Council of Islamic Ideology

enables such heinous acts to occur. Nonetheless, the advent of social media and

telecommunications has led to an increased awareness of such crimes. “The PTI government

is making attempts to counter these acts through dispute resolution committees (DRCs), but

civil society believes that the DRCs are making complications rather than lending a helping-

hand in penalizing the culprits”39.

The situation needs to be addressed without any delay. However, complications arise when

debating the extent to which the government can intervene within the domestic lives of the

36
Browne, David. “How Pakistan Succumbed to a Hard-Drug Epidemic.” The Telegraph. Telegraph Media
Group, March 23, 2014. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/10705585/How-
Pakistan-succumbed-to-a-hard-drug-epidemic.html.
37
Ibid
38
Buneri, Shaheen. “Activists See A Surge In 'Honor' Killings In Pakistani Province.” RFE/RL. Gandhara RFE/RL,
February 17, 2017. https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/pakistan-honor-killings/28313251.html.
39
Ibid
citizens whilst simultaneously suppressing the outbreak of such crimes. A balance needs to be

found between the two.

iv. Human and Sex Trafficking

Various forms of trafficking as a crime is embedded in other forms of exploitation or harmful

cultural practices. It is difficult to separate women trafficking as a separate category of

human trafficking as it is strongly embedded in forms of child trafficking, bride exchange,

and bride price. However, a focused analysis of women trafficking allows us to understand

the characteristics of female trafficking victims and context of their exploitation in Pakistan.

The most notorious form of women trafficking from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the practice of

selling young brides for a price. The practice is common in many districts of poverty-stricken

regions of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa “where it is known as walvar40 and is also found in other

provinces of Pakistan. The custom is also found among the Bengali and Afghani communities

in the urban centres or refugee camps. There are two types of mafias involved in walvar

trade: local operators based in the Swat district and middlemen partners from the Punjab

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is open to the incidence of various issues related to human trafficking

and migrant smuggling.” To decrease incidences of human trafficking the government tasked

the Federal Investigation Agency to investigate incidences according to international

protocols.

40
https://www.unodc.org/documents/pakistan/Annual_report_on_Human_Trafficking_and
_Migrant_Smuggling_2016.pdf
 v. Rights of Transgenders

In 2018, The Transgender Persons Act was passed, in order to ensured that everyone had the

right to be “recognized as per one’s perceived gender identity and guarantees fundamental

rights, including the right of inheritance, education, employment, voting, holding public

office, health, access to public spaces and property.”41

This law, in essence, gives all transgender persons in Pakistan the same inalienable rights that

all Pakistanis are entitled to. Unfortunately, the effects of this law are yet to reach the rural

regions of the province where people continue to conform to the customary status quo

Although the Act was introduced in order to ensure the prevention of mistreatment of

transgender persons it has so far been grossly ineffective. As it is said in a report, “The law

only authorizes the federal government to implement it through three main enforcement

institutions: The National Commission on the Status of Women, the National Commission on

Human Rights and the Federal Ombudsman. Since all the social welfare departments were

devolved by the 18th Amendment, the government cannot enforce the law in the provinces.

The law, therefore, has several gaps despite a remarkable number of positive clauses.”

There is no national data to monitor violence against the transgender community, but quoted

Transaction KPK — a KP based organization — as saying that there have been 2,500 cases

of violence and 78 murders reported in the province since 2015.

vi. Rights of Afghan Refugees

Afghan refugees began flooding into Pakistani territory as a result of the Soviet invasion of

Afghanistan in 1979. Approximately four million people fled Afghanistan to take refuge in

Pakistan. A second wave of refugees came into Pakistan when internal strife began between

41
Kundi, Asma. “Transgender Community Sees Little Improvement despite Landmark Rights Act.” DAWN.COM,
September 16, 2019. https://www.dawn.com/news/1505409.
the Mujahideen forces. Multiple instances also led to increased refugee migration in the 21st

century including the worsening situation of Afghanistan as a result of the United States of

America’s War on Terror.

According to an article, “Most Afghan refugees who came to Pakistan were ethnic Pashtuns,

but also included Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras. As Pakistani and Afghan Pashtuns shared a set

of values known as Pashtunwali, Afghan refugees were well received in Pakistan. Due to

cultural, ethnic, religious and linguistic affinities, the Afghan refugees easily integrated into

Pakistani society. Many Afghan refugees settled in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and

Baluchistan”42.

On June 29, 2016, the government extended registered Afghan refugees' Proof of Residency

(PoR) cards for six months, until the end of 2016. The uncertain residency status of Afghan

refugees in Pakistan has encouraged police harassment, threats, and extortion, particularly

since the deadly December 2014 attack on a Peshawar school by the Pakistani Taliban.

Recent statements by senior Pakistani officials have raised concerns of new government

actions to restrict the rights of Afghan refugees in the country.

Police in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province announced on June 28 the arrests of more than

2,000 Afghan "illegal settlers." Afghan refugees in that province, which shares a long border

with Afghanistan and hosts most Afghan refugees in Pakistan, also face major restrictions on

their right to freedom of movement. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial government

spokesman, Mushtaq Ghani, warned that beginning July 1, "All Afghan refugees will be

restricted to their camps and will not be allowed to move freely in the province."43 Khyber-

42
“Pakistan and Afghan Refugees: Forty Years of Hospitality.” Daily Times, July 15, 2019.
https://dailytimes.com.pk/430689/pakistan-and-afghan-refugees-forty-years-of-hospitality/.
43
United Nations. “Pakistan: Renewed Threats to Afghan Refugees.” Refworld. Accessed November 7, 2019.
https://www.refworld.org/docid/577669c94.html.
Pakhtunkhwa police reported on June 29 that they had arrested at least 500 registered Afghan

refugees and forcibly deported them on the grounds that they were a perceived "security

risk."

On June 30, SAFRON Minister Baloch expressed support for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

government's aversion toward Afghan refugees, accusing them of "hurting the economy and

culture of the province beside their involvement in crimes."

Such police abuses have prompted fearful Afghans to restrict their movements, leading to

economic hardship and curtailing access to education and employment. This oppressive

situation has also prompted large numbers of Afghans to return to Afghanistan, where they

have faced a widening conflict and continuing insecurity. Deteriorating conditions in

Afghanistan prompted more than 178,000 Afghans to register first-time asylum claims in the

European Union in 2015. The return of Afghans uprooted by police abuses in Pakistan, where

many have lived for decades, may add to the numbers of those seeking refuge in Europe as

conditions in Afghanistan deteriorate.

g. Civil Rights

The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement began with nationwide protests led by the Pashtuns, as a

result of the killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a young Pashtun from Waziristan in Karachi on

January 13, 2018. The movement aimed to highlight the plight of the Pashtun community

which constitutes 15.42% of the population.

There have been organized protests rallies in most of the major cities including Quetta,

Peshawar, Lahore, Swat, Karachi, Dera Ismail Khan, Swab and Bannu. The latest rally was

held in Tank, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on January 13, 2019, to commemorate the first

anniversary of the killing of Mehsud. The whole area dominated by Pashtuns has witnessed

armed action leading to death, deprivation, disappearances and large-scale displacement of

civilian population as the aftermath of the mujahideen fighting the Soviet Union and 9/11. As

a result of this treatment at the hands of the state has naturally translated into the PTM

movement today.44

PTM members have actively protested to get their demands heard. These include the removal

of the draconian Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), the release of the missing persons who

were allegedly picked by intelligence agencies during searches and military operation in the

tribal areas and adjacent districts. They also stood in solidarity against the humiliation of

Pashtuns at security checkpoints and for the removal of landmines in the Federally Ad

ministered Tribal Areas (FATA).

The Pakistani government was pressurized by the growing momentum and had to give in to

some of the movement’s demands. It agreed to no longer impose restrictions on the region

including curfews and devise a mechanism to find the missing persons. More importantly, the

President of Pakistan signed the FATA Interim Governance Regulation 2018, replacing the

FCR and outlining how FATA would be governed. This is to be followed "within a

timeframe of two years", even as the region is merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

This new interim regulation places checks on the actions of the security forces that previously

operated in absolute authority, lawlessness. This highlights the movement’s momentum and

the extent of its impact on the political landscape of the nation. Moreover, to further add to

the its significance, leaders of the movement, Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir fought the

general elections of 2018 as independent candidates and secured their respective seats in the

44
Khattak, Daud. “Pakistan's Counterproductive Dismissal of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement.” – The Diplomat.
for The Diplomat, May 5, 2018. https://thediplomat.com/2018/05/pakistans-counterproductive-dismissal-of-
the-pashtun-tahafuz-movement/.
parliament. They kept supporting the PTM and voiced the rights of the Pashtuns at the

political level and therefore faced the wrath of the PTI government.45

However, the overuse of the term, ‘Behind this terrorism is the uniformed army’ by PTM

protesters irritated the Pakistan Army. In turn, the PTM was accused of being a tool of anti-

Pakistan forces at the regional and international levels. Therefore, rather than addressing

PTM’s genuine grievances, the then former PML-N government and the current PTI

government went on the defensive, with very little attention being paid to their demands

being fulfilled.

Charging the PTM of being supported by external authorities, the state has restricted the

coverage and the movement’s activities both in local as well as international media.

Additionally, various police cases have been filed against journalists covering and showing

sympathy towards the PTM cause. The bans and coercive media scrutiny came at a time

when the Pashtuns activists were highlighting the freedom of expression being under attack

in Pakistan.

PTM leaders like Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir were stopped from travelling to Dubai to

attend a Pashtun Cultural event and their names were put on the Exit Control List (ECL). The

recent arrest of Alamzeb on the pretext of rioting and inciting hatred at a PTM protest

demonstration in Karachi also reflects upon the coercive strategy of the government to

sabotage the movement.46

Although PTM has been able to mainstream the Pashtun issue in Pakistan and inspired

popular empathy, the anti-establishment narrative attached to it by the government has made

45
Ibid
46
“One Year of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement.”
it a soft target of the pro-establishment media and political actors. Its perception as a proxy of

outside powers, especially India, has played a vital role in destabilizing the momentum.

At the political level, the PTI governments in KP and in Islamabad have raised the aspirations

of the Pashtun people but not done anything to fulfil them. The presence of many protesters

in Tank this year is also an indication popular disillusionment with the way the present

government has treated the Pashtuns. It therefore remains uncontested that the PTM is a

grassroots movement of the Pashtuns demanding basic rights within the constitution. It thus

has the potential to transform itself into a political party soon. But if the Pakistan government

continues to handle the Pashtun issue with an iron fist and continue to neglect the demands

made by the Pashtuns, the movement also has the potential to transform into a violent

struggle in an environment where gun-culture reigns supreme. A lot will thus depend on the

state’s overall policy towards the PTM and the Pashtun community at large.

h. Integration of FATA into KPK

The Federally Administrated Tribal Areas have for long been kept away from mainstream

Pakistani society. Different rules and laws govern the lands of FATA, and the area is

considered to be one with special status. However, the people of FATA have constantly

demanded their integration within KPK as a means to free them from the draconian ‘special’

laws that used to govern it. Although FATA has been formally made a part of the KPK

Province, key state institutions still remain absent which is a problem that continues to

torment the native people. Delegates must discuss the issues of the state and the people, why

FATA has not been successfully integrated into the mainstream as of yet and must devise

solutions for these issues in a civil and academic manner.

i. FCR 1901 and existing state apparatus

The Frontier Crimes Regulation is the law through which the Federally Administered Tribal

Areas (FATA) of Pakistan are governed. It is considered by many as a dark, inhumane and

draconian law that has its roots in the country’s problematic colonial past. The law was

introduced by the British colonizing forces as a result of the discontent of the Pushtoons of

the region with the colonial government. The law violates some of the basic human rights

provided to all as a result of the Universal Charter of Human Rights such as the right to a

trial, the right to legal representation in court among many other things47.

The existing state apparatus of FATA includes a very arbitrary Political Agent of the

Federation that is supported by a deputy as well as Local Jirga or council of elders. The Jirga

also functions as a court where all legal matters are discussed in accordance with traditions or

Riwaj which are the prevalent customs of the tribal people. However, the Jirga only has

powers to make recommendations to the Political Agent who ultimately makes and enforces

the judgement. The Agent holds both executive and judicial authority and is bestowed with

many arbitrary powers which include but are not limited to the imposition of taxes48,

punishments of crimes etcetera.

After the approval of the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) 5-year

transitional period has begun during which institutions of the Province shall be introduced.

The problem however, is that with the passage of the 25th Constitutional Amendment of the

Pakistani Constitution there a new set of laws has been introduced called the “the Fata

Interim Governance Regulation (FIGR)”. As a result of this order, new institutions were to

emerge for the governance of FATA but no progress has been made with regards to this49.

47
HRCP Report: http://hrcp-web.org/hrcpweb/wp-content/pdf/ff/23.pdf
48
“Black Law (FCR) in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan.” Atlas Corps, July 20, 2016.
https://atlascorps.org/black-law-in-federally-administered-tribal-areas-fata-of-pakistan/.
49
Dastageer, Ghulam. “Problems in Fata's Merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.” Herald Magazine, January 2,
2019. https://herald.dawn.com/news/1398762.
 ii. Administrative Vacuum

As a result of the introduction of the FIGR and the interim period, the institutions that existed

in accordance with the FCR have been declared null and void, with no authority whatsoever.

As per tradition the Jirga still functions; however, since the merger has gone into effect it has

lost all its political legitimacy. There are currently no civil state institutions and offices such

as that of the political agent and their deputy.

Currently, there exists no system of dispute resolution apart from the jirgas that are heavily

dependent on customary laws which could be considered outdated in the present day. The

mechanism under which dispute resolution and the judicial process was to occur as per the

FIGR was also shot down by the Peshawar High Court because, “the judicial authority being

exercised by executive officers in tribal regions was unconstitutional and against the principle

of separation of powers. Executive officials posted in the former Fata are no longer

authorised to conduct a trial and punish…”50 Assistant Commissioners, Magistrates and

Police officials are yet to be appointed in the region thereby leading to a great administrative

vacuum and furthering the discontent of the tribespeople with the state.

iii. Role of the Frontier Corps

The Frontier Corps or Frontier Constabulary (FC) is the militia that is primarily tasked with

enforcing law and order within the FATA region. They have also been tasked with border

patrol and minimising terrorist as well as insurgent activities in the region. Till now they have

played an important role in the administration of the region, providing the state with the

ultimate monopoly over violence against tribal militias. Nonetheless, there have been reports

of gross human rights violations51 by the said institution, which has largely led to the

50
Ibid
51
Amnesty International Report: https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/50d057cd2.pdf
distancing of the people of the region from the federation. Abuses include profiling, killing in

custody of the armed forces, among other things.

The War on Terror and the subsequent military operations in the region have greatly

increased the dependence on the military for effectively administering these institutions. The

people of FATA who have suffered at the hands of all warring parties have demanded peace

and development which can only occur through effective administration, law enforcement

and governance.

iv. Tribal Militia and the issue of Disarmament

Due to the absence of law enforcement agencies within the region, the responsibility of

ensuring that the customary laws of the region are maintained falls on the tribal police which

are independent of state control. These forces function under the orders of the tribal chiefs or

jirgas that they are loyal to and create room for human rights violations and unconstitutional

punishments for minor crimes.

In order for the area to be effectively integrated into KPK, important institutions that ensure

that the state has the legitimacy, it needs to govern the region, exist. One important institution

out of these is the Police. In order for a prosperous FATA, the writ of the state and the rule of

law need to be held supreme, and the police is an institution that ensures this. Although it

would be naïve to say that the establishment of law enforcement agencies would solve all the

problems of the region. A pre-requisite to maintaining law and order would be the

demilitarisation of the region which would include but not be limited to the disarmament of

tribal militias as well as the pulling back of the armed forces of the region thereby giving full

authority to state institutions.

v. Narcotics Control
The primary cash crop for agriculture in FATA has been cannabis which farmers are

prohibited from growing in the rest of the country. FATA’s informal economy has flourished

primarily because of the Pakistani states distance from its economy, and a major portion of

this economy is the drug economy. The major routes for the smuggling of illegal drugs go

through FATA52 and majority of the cannabis that is grown here is supplied to the rest of the

country illegally. Thus, as a committee debating the integration of FATA into KPK, delegates

will need to effectively think of solutions in order to decrease the dependence of cannabis

agriculture, possibly through alternative sources of income, and also crackdown on the

smuggling routes that greatly proliferate the benefits of the trade of illegal narcotics.

vi. Local resistance to integration + reforms

The most important stakeholder within the integration of FATA is the people of the region.

The talks that have occurred regarding the future of the region have mostly addressed the

concerns of the ruling elite rather than the majority, which are the common people. Tribal

people have serious reservations with regards to changes in the status quo. There is a great

degree of mistrust in the state because of old laws such as the FCR of 1901 and its subsequent

revisions. There has particularly been a great deal of opposition to the setup of police stations

with locals reporting to have said, “We want education and healthcare before anything else

but, the government wants to give us police and prisons first…”53

Such concerns voiced by the people with regards to their governance, their economy as well

as their situation in general is completely valid which delegates must adequately address

during the sessions of the KPK Assembly at LUMUN this year.

vii. Problem of Electoral Integration

52
HRCP Report
53 53
Dastageer, Ghulam. “Problems in Fata's Merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”
Another issue that the delegates must address while discussing the integration of FATA

includes the issue of electoral integration. The reservations voiced regarding this are

primarily related to the contradiction that exists in the political status of FATA, post 25th

Amendment. As the region is undergoing the transitional period, it continues to be a part of

KPK while still being federally administered. Thus, the problem that arises is that can the

agencies vote for representatives in the KPK assembly while still being administered by the

Centre. This anomaly needs to be addressed in order to effectively prevent a constitutional

crisis54.

Delegates need to primarily look towards the articles of the constitution that give rise to such

contradictions and propose solutions in order to rectify them.

i. The implementation of the National Action Plan

i. Effects of Introduction of NAP:

Pakistan devised the National Action Plan (NAP) right after the atrocious attack by militants

on the Army Public School Peshawar which resulted in 144 casualties, including 132

children. The main purpose of the National Action Plan was to eradicate terrorism from its

root. The National Action Plan constituted 20 points including lifting the moratorium on

capital punishment; special trial courts under army supervision; working of NACTA, choking

financing of terror groups; administrative and development reforms for FATA with

immediate focus on repatriation of IDPs; and formulation of a comprehensive policy to deal

with Afghan refugees55. The Launch of Operation Rad-ul-Fassad, Operation Khyber,

combing operations in Punjab and the decision to take the Karachi Operation towards its

constructive end, all are part of National Action Plan. During the initial period, the NAP was

54
Challenges of Integrating FATA into KPK: https://www.riphah.edu.pk/sites/default/files/RIPP/FATA-KPK-
Merger%20report.pdf
55
Salahuddin, Zeeshan. “20 Points to Pakistan?” Foreign Policy, June 29, 2015.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/29/20-points-to-pakistan/.
implemented swiftly and effectively. However, its progress slowed down over time which

resulted in Pakistan to be a part of FATF's grey list as a result of Pakistan's failure to curb

terror group financing. Among the major issues in cutting terror financing was the lack of

government's attention towards the issue. Hence, after International pressure and the

inclusion of Pakistan in the grey-list, many steps are being taken at present to halt terror

groups financing in accordance with National Action Plan.

Although the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) was initially formed in 2008,

its working structure and domain were revised in 2013. Its primary task was to formulate

counter-terrorism strategies to deal with terrorism, by the sharing of sensitive data amongst

pertinent agencies. The Prime Minister of Pakistan expressed his distress over the

dysfunctionality of NACTA in 2018 after it was revealed that not a single meeting was held

since its establishment56 (Dawn).

ii. Provinces and NAP:

In the past, KPK was largely affected directly through insurgencies and terrorism. Security

agencies and the KPK police have worked together leading to the decline in terrorism through

law enforcement against militants, specifically TTP. A list of 452 terrorists and their

commanders under National Action Plan (NAP) had been sent to police stations in Peshawar

for effective action against persons involved in terror activities57

During the implementation of NAP, a difference of views arose while dealing with Afghan

refugees as the Federal government did not express much of interest towards the repatriation

of Afghan refugees. The federal government expressed its low interest in repatriation of

refugees by extending deadline for their stay in Pakistan. Furthermore, the government's lack

of attention towards the introduction of reforms in FATA also resulted in a backlog in the

56
Ibid
57
Ibid
NAP and caused a conflict because parliamentarians from FATA demanded the merger of the

region with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa58 (Dawn 2015).

3) Conclusion

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province faces a number of issues out of which, some of the

important ones have been mentioned in this guide. As members of this assembly, delegates

must research the themes of the committee exhaustively and come up with adequately

practical policy proposals. The aim of this assembly shall be to formulate policy regarding all

the objectives mentioned within this guide.

The purpose of selecting an open-ended agenda such as this is to enable delegates to think

like our representatives in these assemblies and to counter issues in a sound manner. They

must exercise the use of their content, influence and diplomacy in a sound manner in order to

direct the agenda in line with their motives. This topic shall particularly test the ability of the

delegates to carry out the aforementioned tasks.

Delegates in this committee may set the agenda themselves by selecting the theme for a

particular session and will have the autonomy to choose issues such as the issue of the

implementation of the National Action Plan, the issues of education, or the integration of

FATA into KPK etcetera. Although delegates will be autonomous in the selection of the

themes of the session, they will not be able to move on to another item(theme) without

passing a bill of solutions or a policy on a selected theme of the session.

4) Expectations from an Ideal Delegate

In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly, delegates will be judged on a number of

elements. As the purpose of this committee is to create awareness and promote discourse

regarding the issues of the province, the dais feels that the ideal delegate for shall be one that

58
Dawn
has the best content. Alternatively, it must also be noted by delegates that they must also

know how to use this content effectively, in order to get points for content.

The dais will also be judging upon the delegate’s ability to be persuasive in formal session

and also in the breaks (the assembly’s equivalent of unmoderated caucuses). Delegates must

also know that the dais has a very strong dislike for undiplomatic acts such as talking over

people, not listening to what others have to say etcetera. The dais will have a zero-tolerance

policy for such actions.

Furthermore, the dais will also look favourably upon the committee bringing forward

practical solutions with the right kind of documentation. Impractical solutions will be

rejected, and bills that are not formatted the right way will be tabled.

Hence, for the dais of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, the winner of the coveted

Outstanding Delegate Award will be someone who has outstanding content and is able to use

that content strategically. They must also be diplomatic and must be ready to cooperate with

others in order for the committee to progress. They must focus on including all delegates in

their conversations during breaks and must generally be nice people. No underhanded tactics

shall be credited. The Outstanding Delegate shall also be someone who brings practical

solutions to the floor that absolutely need to be pertinent in the process of formulating the

ideal policy for the province. Finally, all documentation must be in accordance with the

format provided by the LUMUN conference. Mastery in all these skills will lead to the award

that all of you delegates desire at this iteration of the LUMUN Conference.
 Work Cited

Abbasi, Kashif. “New Report Reveals One-Tenth of All Children Enrolled in Madressahs.”
DAWN.COM, April 22, 2015. https://www.dawn.com/news/1177473.

Akhter, Shahnawaz. “Collection of Sales Tax on Services Grows 31pc in 2017/18.” thenews.
The News International, August 25, 2018. https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/359312-
collection-of-sales-tax-on-services-grows-31pc-in-2017-18.

Ali, Yasmeen A. “The 18th Amendment Debate in Pakistan.” CRSS Pakistan, January 2, 2019.
https://crss.pk/story/the-18th-amendment-debate-in-pakistan/.

Ashfaq, Mohammad. “Public vs Private Schools: KP's Fight for Educational Reform.” Herald
Magazine, November 15, 2016. https://herald.dawn.com/news/1153590.

Ashfaq, Mohammad. “KP Budget 2019-20: Rs319bn Ambitious Development Spending

Planned.” DAWN.COM, June 19, 2019. https://www.dawn.com/news/1489100.

“Black Law (FCR) in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan.” Atlas Corps,
July 20, 2016. https://atlascorps.org/black-law-in-federally-administered-tribal-areas-fata-of-
pakistan/.

Browne, David. “How Pakistan Succumbed to a Hard-Drug Epidemic.” The Telegraph.

Telegraph Media Group, March 23, 2014.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/10705585/How-Pakistan-
succumbed-to-a-hard-drug-epidemic.html.

Buneri, Shaheen. “Activists See A Surge In 'Honour' Killings In Pakistani Province.” RFE/RL.
Gandhara RFE/RL, February 17, 2017. https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/pakistan-Honour-
killings/28313251.html.

Cpec. “CPEC Development Projects Underway in KPK.” CPEC Latest News. Accessed
November 7, 2019. http://www.cpecinfo.com/news/cpec-development-projects-underway-in-
kpk/NTUxOQ==.

Cpec. “CM Khan Looks to Get More Projects under CPEC for KPK.” CPEC Latest News.
Accessed November 7, 2019. http://www.cpecinfo.com/news/cm-khan-looks-to-get-more-
projects-under-cpec-for-kpk/NTgwNQ.

Dastageer, Ghulam. “Problems in Fata's Merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.” Herald Magazine,
January 2, 2019. https://herald.dawn.com/news/1398762.
Deutsche Welle. “Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa - a Difficult Province to Govern: DW:
09.03.2018.” DW.COM. Accessed November 7, 2019. https://www.dw.com/en/pakistans-
khyber-pakhtunkhwa-a-difficult-province-to-govern/a-42913082.

Khan, Hidayat. “Pending Cases K-P’s Lower Courts Groan under Massive Backlog.” Express
Tribune, September 10, 2018. https://tribune.com.pk/story/1799331/1-pending-cases-k-ps-
lower-courts-groan-massive-backlog/.

Khan, Ismail. “Damning Report of Public Money Waste on Peshawar BRT.” DAWN.COM,
April 3, 2019. https://www.dawn.com/news/1473563.

Khattak, Daud. “Pakistan's Counterproductive Dismissal of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement.” –

The Diplomat. for The Diplomat, May 5, 2018. https://thediplomat.com/2018/05/pakistans-
counterproductive-dismissal-of-the-pashtun-tahafuz-movement/.

“KP Has Abundant Natural Resources.” thenews. Accessed November 7, 2019.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/218739-KP-has-abundant-natural-resources.

“KP Police.” Insaf. Accessed November 7, 2019. https://www.insaf.pk/public/insafpk/tabdeeli-

ka-safar-categories/kp-police.

“KPK Government Brings Revolutionary Changes in Education Sector.” Global Village Space,
May 2, 2019. https://www.globalvillagespace.com/kpk-government-brings-revolutionary-
changes-in-education-sector/.

Kundi, Asma. “Transgender Community Sees Little Improvement despite Landmark Rights
Act.” DAWN.COM, September 16, 2019. https://www.dawn.com/news/1505409.

Mahfooz, Shabana. “Education Row in KPK.” Pakistan Today. Accessed November 7, 2019.
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/05/07/education-row-in-kpk/.

“One Year of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement.” One Year of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement | Institute
for Defence Studies and Analyses. Accessed November 7, 2019.
https://idsa.in/idsacomments/one-year-pashtun-tahafuz-movement-zakhter-280119.

“Pakistan and Afghan Refugees: Forty Years of Hospitality.” Daily Times, July 15, 2019.
https://dailytimes.com.pk/430689/pakistan-and-afghan-refugees-forty-years-of-hospitality/.

“Pakistan's Justice on Wheels.” UNDP. Accessed November 7, 2019.

https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/ourstories/pakistan_s-justice-on-
wheels-.html.
Rehman, Abdul, Luan Jingdong, and Imran Hussain. “The Province-Wise Literacy Rate in
Pakistan and Its Impact on the Economy.” Pacific Science Review B: Humanities and Social
Sciences. Elsevier, September 27, 2016.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405883116300247.

Report, Dawn. “Notices Issued to Eight Doctors as Strike Continues at KP Hospitals.”

DAWN.COM, October 10, 2019. https://www.dawn.com/news/1510000/notices-issued-to-
eight-doctors-as-strike-continues-at-kp-hospitals.

Report, Recorder. “KP Government to Depoliticize Police: Inayat.” Business Recorder.

Accessed November 7, 2019. https://fp.brecorder.com/2016/07/2016072769236/.

Salahuddin, Zeeshan. “20 Points to Pakistan?” Foreign Policy, June 29, 2015.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/29/20-points-to-pakistan/.

“SC Declares Panchayat, Jirga System as Illegal.” Dunya News. Accessed November 7, 2019.
https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/474661-SC-declares-panchayat-jirga-system-as-illegal.

Suleri, Abid Qaiyum. “Herald Special: State of Healthcare in Pakistan.” Herald Magazine, May
28, 2018. https://herald.dawn.com/news/1398560.

“Terminate Jirga System.” Express Tribune, February 2, 2019.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1910652/6-terminate-jirga-system/.

The Nation. “Tourism Force to Be Constituted for Security of Tourists in KP: Mahmood.” The
Nation. The Nation, February 20, 2019. https://nation.com.pk/20-Feb-2019/tourism-force-to-
be-constituted-for-security-of-tourists-in-kp-mahmood.

United Nations. “Pakistan: Renewed Threats to Afghan Refugees.” Refworld. Accessed

November 7, 2019. https://www.refworld.org/docid/577669c94.html.

Zia, Asad. “Sexual Abuse of Children.” Express Tribune, January 29, 2018.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1621044/1-sexual-abuse-children-222-cases-registered-k-p-six-
years/.