FATA is the one area where the writ of the Pakistani state has never been fully established. For this reason, the people living there have resorted to the "Jirga" system to get justice. But the question arises, is this system really the next best alternative for the people of FATA?
The first major problem seen with Jirgas is that fact that they are made up of men. Therefore, the judgments passed there are mostly against female interests. This for me exposes a larger loophole in the system. Personal grudges and biases can then cloud judgment leading to more unfair results and actual justice being delayed.
Besides this, Jirgas have also proven inefficient when it comes to talks with the Taleban. Some of these talks have broken down and some of them have resulted in no change whatsoever. Therefore we must ask the question that is this system of justice and governance (in a way) to be relied upon?
This question leads us to why we even have a place in Pakistan called "Federally Administered Tribal Area". The people there do not trust the Pakistani state to provide for them. They see all around them, the problems in our judiciary, our issues with corruption so on so forth. How can the Pakistani state assure the people living in FATA that they are better than the Tribal rule they have in place.
This is where we get stuck in between a rock and a hard place. Should we let the Jirga system with it problems keep going on, or should we impose the Pakistani state upon these people despite their distrust in it. The people of FATA have decided to go with what they believe is the lesser of the two evils.
3 comments:
Jirgas do not always arise because people do not have faith in our judicial system, they arise many times because law and order is not present in those areas. In such a situation people resort to their own methods such as jirga. I believe that jirga provides a platform to the people to bring their cases and not only that, they also ensure that some sort of social order is maintained. I agree that jirgas are sometimes flawed but so are our official system backed with bribery etc. But, in this case at least the jirga is proving a set of laws or a code of conduct for the people during the absence of an official system. People are just trying to help themselves.
I agree with Arslan's approach to the fact that even though the jirga system consist of those elderly members of the society who are closer to God and give their stance accordingly, the system is heavily dominated by those conservative members of the community who discriminate heavily against women. Women have to undertake severe hardships and have to bear punishments based on unjustified conclusions. Samar Minallah, a human rights activist holds a similar view:
"If they are providing justice, then why is the punishment only geared towards women."
Just because systems are run by men does not necessarily mean that they will always act against women's interests. However, in practice this does happen far too often.
The more complex issue is the relationship between FATA and the Pakistani state. FATA has always had a complex relationship with Pakistan since the inception of the state, just as it had a complex relationship with the British before. These tribal areas are currently on the receiving end of Pakistani military intervention, which is further exacerbating tension between communities in FATA and the Pakistani state. Why would people in FATA agree to the state's authority if the state is acting like an occupying army?
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