Down the Rabbit Hole In December 2006, the then military dictator General Pervez Musharraf convened a major gathering to discuss Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The attendees included officials from the FATA Secretariat ,  Political Agents (PAs), representatives of the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) , the Governor of Khyber  Pukhtunkhwa, notable elders and politicians from the region, along with representatives of the military establishment. The President's intent was to put all FATA stakeholders in one room, and determine the future of FATA. For nearly three days, fiery speeches, ambitious plans and reform proposals bounced back and forth between the political and military elite, whereas the only common thread by sycophantic bureaucrats and Maliks was unanimous and unconditional praise for General Musharraf for taking the initiative. However, the enthusiasm gave way to caution on the third day, when participants warned against tinkering with the system currently governing FATA. Despite days of deliberation, the gathering failed to agree upon possible reforms for FATA. One of the conference attendees, a PA, while recalling his experience, did not express even a shred of optimism regarding reforms in FATA, citing the military's hesitation for change in wake of the ongoing insurgency in the region. The military's “interest” in FATA was also evident when a 27-member Committee on Constitutional Reforms, in 2009, deliberated extensively and climaxed with amendments to 101 articles of the federal constitution. However, none of these applied to Part XII: Miscellaneous – Chapter III: Tribal Areas, especially Article 246 - which geographically defines “Tribal Areas”, “Provincially Administered Tribal Areas” and “Federally Administered Tribal Areas” - and article 247 - which gives the President sweeping powers, and excludes these areas from any parliamentary legislation, or legal jurisdiction from the Supreme Court or any High Court...

by Zeeshan Salahuddin On Tuesday, January 19, a private research institute in Islamabad released their second report on minorities titled “State of Religious Freedoms in Pakistan”. The publication documents and maps incidents of violence and atrocities against minorities since 2012, and the findings are shocking. With the advent of the National Action Plan (NAP), other institutions such as the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) have determined that the incidents of violence overall (and thus violence against minorities) have gone down in the last calendar year, this publication reports at least 351 incidents of violence against minorities since 2012. Minorities in Pakistan have always been presented as soft targets, easy picking for sectarian groups, and in recent years, even non-sectarian elements. The primary groups that suffer as a result of the state’s weak response are Shias (including Hazaras and sub-sects), Christians, Ahmedis and Hindus. Since 2012, 40 attacks of varying scale and intensity were carried out against the Christian community, the most significant ones being a massive arson attack on Joseph Colony in Lahore, and a church bombing in Peshawar. Christians account for 2.5 million individuals in Pakistan. During this period seven churches were damaged, and 14 Christians were charged with blasphemy. As stated before, the amount of violence in the country has declined overall, which also lowers the incidents of violence against minorities overall. However, through interviews, it is evident that the Christian community feels marginalized, a second class of citizen, unprotected practically despite being protected constitutionally, and a non-priority for the state. There has been an increase in violence against Shias Nearly 1 million Hindus reside in Pakistan, with 80% of them hailing from Sindh. Hindus bear the additional issue of being discriminated against institutionally, as they are labelled as untrustworthy, vile, and evil traitors,...

Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and the US met in Kabul on January 18 for the 2nd Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) meeting to devise a roadmap for peace in Afghanistan. The meeting can be seen as a step forward, because its primary objective was to build on the work done in the first meeting at Islamabad on January 11. That is, to develop the roadmap for resuming the reconciliation process, which was suspended in July last year after the news of Taliban chief Mullah Omar’s death two years ago caused anger in Kabul. China’s special envoy on Afghanistan, Deng Xijun, and the US Ambassador to Afghanistan, P Michael McKinley, also participated in the meeting. Their presence resulted in reaffirmations by both Pakistan and Afghanistan of their commitment to fighting terrorist groups of ‘all shades’. In a joint statement issued at the conclusion of the meeting, the four countries reported “progress on the roadmap”. It also called upon all Taliban groups to enter into early talks with the Afghan government. The only substantive progress discernible from the statement was agreements on combating terrorism of all sorts and having better ties, diplomatic sources said. “The QCG countries agree that all forms of terrorism present a grave threat to the countries, the region and the world. The members indicated their commitment to a robust effort to eliminate all forms of terrorist groups, regardless of their national origin, operating in their respective territories,” said the statement. Pakistani officials, however, insist that the appeal to all Taliban for joining the talks marked a step forward, in a way – an apparent departure from the Afghan insistence on a crackdown against all Afghan insurgents it says are operating out of havens in Pakistan. Is Mullah Akhtar Mansoor the master interlocutor? This has been a major sticking point between Islamabad and Kabul. Afghan officials believe an all-out offensive first will force the militants into submission and compel them to...

Violence against religious minorities in Pakistan has seen a considerable rise in recent years. Non-Muslims constitute about three percent of Pakistan’s estimated population of 200 million. Some 20 percent of the rest are Shia Muslims.  Prominent among the non-Muslim minority groups are Christians (2.5 million), Hindus (1 million), and Ahmadis (3 million, considered as non-Muslims according to the Pakistani constitution). During the 2012-2015 period, as many as 351 cases of violence against religious minorities were reported.  Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis and Shia Muslims remained major victims of religious discrimination.[i] Christians form the major part of the minority population and during 2012-2015 this community remained vulnerable to sexual assaults, harassment and forced conversions in some parts of the country. Some 14 Christians were charged under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws. Nearly 40 attacks on the Christian community, including seven churches, were also reported during the period under discussion[ii]. The All Saints Church in Peshawar suffered the deadliest assault in September 2013, which left over 100 worshippers dead. Discrimination towards Ahmadis led to the killing of 39 people during 2014-2015. In 2012, six places of worship of the Ahmadis were attacked. According to Ahmadis, they constantly face humiliation, threats to life and property by extremist groups. Anti-Ahmadi laws have played a vital role in separating the Ahmadi community from the majority population of the state. Hindu community also remained a target of abduction, forced marriages, rape of girls and kidnappings. These factors compel them to migrate to India. In Larkana, a Hindu community center was damaged by the extremist groups in 2014. Biased curriculum has been portraying Hindu minorities as evil and untrustworthy. Shia’s in Pakistan remained a greater victim of religious intolerance. There were 23 attacks on Imambargahs and Shia mosques, 203 target killings and 1304...