Waziristan: The Land Of Abundance And Extreme Oppression

"A fortress built by nature for herself, guarded by mountains which serve it in the office of a wall".

- British Administrator

Waziristan; the land of the Wazir - the native inhabitants of Razmak; is a geographic region
of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan covering roughly 11,585sq km of the former
FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) agencies of North Waziristan and South Waziristan.
It is a barren, mountainous region occupied by part of the Sulaiman Range and bounded north
by the Kurram River, south by the Gumal River, and west by Afghanistan.

North Waziristan, covering 4707sq km, is a mountainous region of north-west Pakistan that
shares a border with Afghanistan.

South Waziristan is spread over 2,419 square km of vast and rugged terrain. The region was an
independent tribal territory from 1893.

Waziristan Unrest

“It will take more than American missiles to bring order to Pakistan’s north-western
border region.”

Often described as the most dangerous place on Earth, Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal
region serves as a haven for Al Qaeda operatives, Pakistani militants, and jihadists from across
the Islamic world, as well as Muslim radicals from the United States and Europe who come
for ideological instructions and to plot terrorist attacks in their home countries.

Along the country’s western border, the Taliban and allied militants have thrived for years.
For over a decade, bringing law and order and stability in the tribal areas, in particular,
Waziristan has been best avoided. The presence of the Taliban groups and the Pakistani military
in Waziristan has left widespread destruction in the land of high mountains and dense forests.

Around one million people have been displaced from the Tribal Areas because of the violence.
Above all, it is only the innocent tribesmen who suffer on all fronts amidst this chaos and confusion,
pounded by drone strikes and military campaigns one day, and suicide bombers the next.

South Waziristan

An aerial photograph from South Waziristan which shows houses stripped of their roofs.

The inhabitants of South Waziristan are a suppressed race who lived directly under the British
rule in the 20th century and are now living under the merciless Pakistani rulers. The British bombed
them in the 20th century and Pakistan is committing even worse atrocities on them in the 21st
century.

The people of FATA are suffering torture and abuse for more than 100 years now. They have
known no independence even in their own country. Even in this 21st century their houses are
stripped of their roofs and are denied basic human rights.

The Pakistan Army has reportedly cleared the agency of all militants. However, the question
that remains is, why is there a complete media blackout in this region to this day? Is there
anything to hide in South Waziristan?

North Waziristan

- General Kayani

Whenever the Pakistani state is attacked by the Pakistani as well as the Afghan Taliban, the
military in response launches air strikes in North Waziristan. Islamabad had called for no wars,
only talks with militants. But then the government and the military made a dramatic turnaround
and opted for a full-scale offensive in the tribal areas. Zarb-e-Azb, a military strategy initiated
after failed attempts at peace talks is a much-supported operation. However, as the famous line
goes, attacks on militants beget more attacks by militants and as always it’s the civilians who
suffer the most.

In the tribal belt, locals suffer from military assaults, which are often indiscriminate and
frequently displaces civilians. The military strategy has already displaced thousands of innocent
civilians. According to tribal elders, 70,000 people have already fled from North Waziristan in
the recent past. With an alarming frequency; children are blown up, polio prevention workers
gunned down and religious minorities massacred.

“Drones strike with a lot of precision,”
“they mostly kill the terrorists, and we are happy with that. It’s our army that fires indiscriminately.
What was the crime of these children and their mother? Who are they defending? What are
they doing?’ he asked before cursing the people responsible.”
- A local explained.

Today the militants have gone. Virtually the whole of North Waziristan is in Pakistani Army
hands.

And the media is saying nothing about what is happening in North Waziristan as it does not
even qualify something worthy of being reported.

Waziristan’s children are uneducated and uncared for:

“Educational poverty supersedes all poverty here.”

Children have been the most affected with the worst kind of terror, violence and state
aggression. According to unofficial estimates, the literacy rate of the previously turbulent
region FATA stands below 30% as opposed to 58% at the national level.

North Waziristan, one of the seven tribal agencies of FATA has the highest dropout rate.

“I would blame both the government and the Taliban for that,” Masood Bangash,
a senior government official for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, said.

Militancy has deprived millions of students of their basic Right to Education.

In this militancy landscape, hundreds of schools have been bombed and the newly built schools
lack teachers and even basic learning tools. ‘The omnipresent armed conflict has made it
increasingly difficult for an entire generation of young people to get a basic education.’

All Taliban oppose co-education, and girls lucky enough to receive any kind
of formal instruction typically do so in private homes.

A heavy dropout rate of girls at primary level deters entry into higher education.

Shortage of girls’ schools and female teachers, and social factors like early marriage,
cultural taboos and tribal hostilities that make traveling hazardous are some of the factors
that contribute to a heavy dropout rate of girls from primary schools.

“Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.”

Waziristan’s Untapped Mineral Wealth

After Balochistan, FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan boast of rich mineral
wealth.

Waziristan was not always chaotic; it has a rich cultural history and along with that it sits on
untapped mineral wealth worth billions of dollars.

Just like the largest province of Pakistan (Balochistan), Waziristan and the rest of the tribal belt
is extremely under-developed. Surprisingly, Waziristan alone has mineral resources in such
abundance that it can alone employ almost everyone in FATA.

Among these minerals, copper deposits in Waziristan are of utmost importance and in huge
abundance. Bajaur, Khyber and Mohmand Agencies have inexhaustible deposits of high-grade
marble, manganese, chromite, soapstone, silica sand, quartz, feldspar (rare earth mineral) and
a large variety of high-quality gemstones. Orakzai Agency contains huge deposits of coal, oil &
gas and iron ore as well. North and South Waziristan Agencies host enormous metallic mineral
deposits such as copper, gold, chromite, construction material such as marble and granite and
energy resources of oil and gas. The restive Kurram belt has soapstone, coal, marble, magnesite,
iron ore, lead, oil, and gas. North Waziristan has huge resources of copper, gold, nickel, manganese,
chromite, magnesite, granite (dimension stone) and oil and gas.

According to FATA Research Center; the authorities have so far identified 19 different minerals
in tribal areas. These include copper, manganese, chromite, iron ore, lead, barite, soapstone,
coal, gypsum, limestone, marble, dolomite, feldspar, quartz, silica sand, bentonite, marl, emerald,
and graphite.

Waziristan also has its own magic mountains: copper deposits, smaller in size than
Riko Diq and Sandak copper deposits, but that has more potential with higher copper content,
and if properly explored, and developed, it could change the fortune of Pakistan.

The resources are eagerly waiting to be explored, giving positive opportunities to help overcome
the violence that has gripped the entire region and help gradually return peace, security, and
stability in the Tribal Areas.

Waziristan is known to the world for all the wrong reasons of terrorism - Internally Displaced
People and decades of military operations. They are actually warm and welcoming people full
of life holding onto their traditions that their ancestors introduced to them.

Why is there no effort made by the government to integrate these people into the mainstream
of Pakistani society? Winning the war against terrorism will be much much easier then.

The Pakistani State should stop being a Silent Spectator

State Minister for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi - Published in The Express Tribune, March 26th, 2019.

The Pakhtoons on one hand, have been living with the worst kind of terror, violence, and
aggression from the militancy and on the other hand, facing state aggression under the veil of
‘targeting only terrorists’ or ‘those affiliated with terrorist activity’.

Some people also believe that the security forces are now treating the Pakhtoons like Bengalis
of former East Pakistan.

According to estimates of independent sources, so far there have been over 342 such drone attacks
within Pakistan which has killed as many as 3000 people, including women, children, humanitarian
workers, the elderly and the handicapped ─ none of them were terrorists or al Qaeda operatives.

There are a number of things the government could have done to protect the rights of its citizens
as guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan, but it seems like they are ‘children of a lesser God’.
However, after decades of insurgency and militancy, State Minister for Interior
Shehryar Khan Afridi in a meeting held with Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) lawmakers
Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir finally assured them that the government will strive to resolve the
issues, protect and promote the rights of the people of North Waziristan and South Waziristan.

Indeed the battle against terrorism will be won by giving positive opportunities, dignity,
and rights as equal citizens and security by the state of Pakistan.