Constitutional and judicial setup of erstwhile Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Authors

  • Muneeb Ur Rehman Department of Pakistan Studies, Women University Swabi, Swabi, Pakistan.
  • Riffat Nazir Department of Pakistan Studies, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Kohat, Pakistan.
  • Ruqia Khan Northeast Asian Studies College, Jilin University, Changchun, China.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47264/idea.ajpas/1.1.6

Keywords:

PATA reforms, Constitutionalism, Marginalisation, Constitutional setup, Judicial setup, Legal setup, Provincial autonomy, Centralisation of powers, Decentralisation

Abstract

This study explores the constitutional and judicial setup of the former Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. This study questioned what factors contributed to the unique and distinguished status of Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) constitutionally and judicially within the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and why PATA was not made a complete part of KP. Until May 2018, PATA had a distinguished status compared to the rest of mainstream Pakistan. It’s found that the marginalisation and distinguished status of PATA was not accidental but had roots in the region's history. It is argued that Pakistan's state and government had inherited a centralised attitude and security-centric approach to governance of the PATA region from British India. Rather than changing that negative attitude toward the region and incorporating the PATA region entirely in Pakistan's provincial and federal constitutional and legal structure, PATA was kept under transitional status in the form of the constitutional status of PATA and judicial setup under PATA regulations for a long. The bureaucratic interests, geo-strategic concerns, and the influence of local political leadership, or lack thereof, were other fundamental drivers for continuing the discriminatory and marginalised constitutional and judicial setup in PATA.

Published

2023-12-31

How to Cite

Rehman, M. U., Nazir, R., & Khan, R. (2023). Constitutional and judicial setup of erstwhile Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Asian Journal of Politicology and Allied Studies (AJPAS), 1(1), 62–74. https://doi.org/10.47264/idea.ajpas/1.1.6