David Miliband

Foreign Secretary

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Sunday 20 April, 2008

Marginalised equals radicalised?

The federally administered area of Pakistan has been just that - federally administered - since independence. But administration without politics is a recipe for marginalisation. In its wake comes radicalisation. So the counter insurgency that is the responsibility of the new Pakistani government is about building political structures not just military strategies.

The fact that the relatives of those killed by recent terrorism should have led me into a discussion of politics made the point. Their modesty was striking and their stories were harrowing: the children of the police chief murdered, the brother of the councillor murdered. Gathered in the ante-room of the chief minister's house - striking in itself though not in the same league as the palatial gardens of the Governor who occupies a house with portraits of British governors going back to 1900 - they cut through the jargon. Some blamed the West for engaging Pakistan in its fight against the perpetrators of 9/11. Others just wanted an effective and comprehensive attack on the conditions that give rise to radicalisation.

All saw the need for the Pashtun question to be addressed across the Afghan/Pakistan border. Lesson 1 for the day. Lesson 2 is that without local politics you have a recipe for disaster.

Posted at 15:38 20 April 2008 by David Miliband  |  Comments[2]

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David As you know FATA was still being run under detested FCR dating back to the colonial days and little work was done to evolve FCR to take account of changing times. The generally jubilant reaction amongst the people when removal of FCR indicates its unpopularity and explains why inclusive local politics was kept at bay perhaps because it suited a few Maliks who benefited the most from the colonial regulations. The bereaved people you mention however were not from FATA many more of whom have lost their loved ones too and perhaps wrongly ended up being terrorists or collateral damage just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time i.e. FATA. Hopefully all this will now change. Give them the respect they deserve as humans and you will find them the best defence against terrorism. Perhaps the EU envoys expelled from Afghanistan last Christmas understood that and the Pashtun question more the current Afghan government.

Posted by Tahir Ishaque on April 21, 2008 at 01:03 PM BST #

kindly disregard my previous mail on the same due to typographical errors For an instance, i take you in past almost 30 years back to one of the FATA agencies namely, Parachinar ,governed under the federal system .It was a peaceful and scenic town with a population comprising of mainly shia and sunni pashtun tribes ,some punjabi settlers mostly federal servants but living there for ages and even a small christian minority who used to practice their religeon freely. Then came the russian invasion of Afghanistan and with it a menace of weapons flood and shia-sunni polarization due to indoctrination of warriors from other countries.The peace was destroyed and due to the latest war , local talibans have have made situation even more trivial by taking logistical and political advantage.My opinion is that any system will work but if indoctrination and foreign elements are reversed.Experience of quasi-democratic quasi-tribal can also be thought of.

Posted by Adnan Khattak on April 22, 2008 at 05:26 AM BST #

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