The Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan and the Legacy of Colonial Violence

Abstract

Following the 9/11 attacks in 2001, George Bush called FATA as “one of the most dangerous areas in the world.” What led FATA to become the most dangerous place in the world? This paper employs the critical approach of postcolonialism to argue that it is the most relevant framework to understand the legacies of violence that have shaped the region of FATA, especially in terms of the colonial state’s interaction with, and methods of control practiced over, the tribes of FATA. The methodology involves a comprehensive analysis of scholarly literature, government reports and data gathered by international organizations. To help understand violence and how it was used by the British over its colonial subjects, this paper employs the category developed by Johan Galtung called “structural violence” which refers to repressive administrative structures and legal frameworks that led to the marginalization of this region and its inhabitants. The objective of the study is to develop a comprehensive study of how structural violence was used by the colonial government as a means to subdue and control the inhabitants of tribal frontier, and establish how these colonial legacies of violence have had a postcolonial after-life. The results indicate that these legacies of structural violence have led to dire consequences for the postcolonial state, its inhabitants, and the world at large.