The seven tribal agencies and six frontier regions, spread from Chitral to Balochistan, have no proper administrative status. There are no courts, no provincial assembly, and no local government system. A grade-18 bureaucrat -- political agent -- governs millions of tribesmen, depriving them of their basic rights.

Understandably, the federally administered tribal areas (Fata) and provincially administered tribal areas (Pata) have proved to be safe havens for terrorists.

As operation Zarb-e-Azb is underway in the North Waziristan Agency, thousands of IDPs are now away from their homes for several years, living in tents under harsh weather conditions. The attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar on December 16 was said to be planned in an area along with the border.

The Chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Imran Khan, while addressing a press conference in Peshawar urged on the federal government to bring Fata into the national mainstream. Not only Imran Khan but the Chief of the Awami National Party, Asfandyar Wali Khan, Ameer Jamat-e-Islami, Sirajul Haq, and others also stressed for giving due rights to the people of Fata.

"Fata must be given the right to decide about their future if it wants to integrate with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or become a separate province. But one thing is clear that the present administrative status needs to be changed," says Senator Afrasiab Khattak, a senior leader of the ANP and the chairman of the standing Committee on Human Rights in Senate.

"Besides, more funds than the settled districts should be allocated for Fata in the provincial budget for education, health, communication and other sectors to help them come at par with the rest of the country. The same was done with the East Germany when the two integrated," adds Khattak.

On many occasions, the federal government formed Fata reforms commissions but all proved to be mere eyewash. The incumbent governor, Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan, has also constituted a commission for reforms. The Commission was established in May 2014.

The commission is to frame strategic objectives for the volatile tribal areas for the next 25 years. The commission is being headed by former chief secretary, Ejaz Qureshi, and comprises of Lt-Gen (r) Syed Sabahat Hussain, former bureaucrat Mir Laiq Shah, former caretaker provincial minister, Mussarat Qadeem, and an additional secretary to the governor.

In 2010, the Political Parties Joint Committee on Fata Reforms began working together to demonstrate their commitment to promoting debate throughout Pakistan and to call for the implementation of reforms in the tribal areas.

The Committee unanimously approved 11 recommendations for reform in December 2013 and called on the government of Pakistan for their urgent implementation.

The political parties represented on the Fata Committee are ANP, JI, JUI-F, MQM, NP, PML-N, PML, PPP, PTI and QWP.

Today, the 10 member parties of the Fata Committee continue to engage in discussions with stakeholders from Fata to build consensus, increase awareness and promote dialogue on existing and future reforms.

"We have been meeting over the issue for the last 2- 3 years after which we finalised 11 points for reforms in Fata. Our members from all the political parties held meetings with Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari of PPP, the then chief of JI Munawwar Hassan, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman, MQM leaders Farooq Sattar and others, and others," says Ajmal Khan Wazir, spokesperson of Political Parties Joint Committee on Fata.

One of the 11 points for Fata reforms included the right for tribesmen to decide whether to become a part of KP or become another province. "Some political parties wanted Fata to be part of KP while others wanted it a separate province. The points also included giving the right of appeal to the tribesmen in High Court and Supreme Court against the decision of the Peshawar Assembly holding local bodies’ polls and allowing Fata senators and MNAs legislate in the parliament," adds Wazir.

Presently, legislative and executive powers for the region are with the president and, per extension, his representative, the governor of KP, and the political agents, while elected representatives of the area in parliament have no say in these matters.

The European Union (EU) had noted in its report on 2013 elections conducted in May 2013 that elected representatives of these areas are not empowered to legislate for their people in parliament.

The Pakistan People’s Party submitted a resolution to the National Assembly Secretariat in July 2014, seeking powers for the parliament to make laws for the country’s Fata areas.

Senator Farhatullah Babar moved a private member’s bill in Senate on Aug 11, 2014 seeking amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan for extending jurisdiction of superior courts to Fata for the enforcement of fundamental rights. He sought amendment to Article 247 (7) of the Constitution, which presently bars the Supreme Court and high court from exercising any jurisdiction in tribal areas.

Under Article 247 of the Constitution, the parliament has no powers to make laws for the tribal areas, which are governed by the country’s president through the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The demand to amend Article 247 is also included in the 11-point consensus recommendations, prepared by the Joint Committee on Fata Reform, consisting of representatives from 10 mainstream political parties of the country.

Under Article 1 of the Constitution of 1973 the tribal areas are part of Pakistan and fundamental rights provided therein are applicable to Fata. However, through Article 247 both Fata and Pata (Provincially Administered Tribal Areas) have been given a status different from rest of the country.

Parliamentarians from the tribal areas point out that Fata related legal and constitutional important issues have not been addressed in the 18th Amendment to the Constitution which has created a sense of deprivation among the dwellers of tribal areas.

The questionable role of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) is also central to the administration of Fata. The FCR comprises a set of laws which are applicable to Fata. The laws state that three basic rights are not applicable to the residents of Fata -- appeal, wakeel and daleel (the right to request a change to a conviction in any court, the right to legal representation and the right to present reasoned evidence, respectively). The FCR as a draconian law has brought injustice and lots of suffering to tribal people in Fata. The FCR is often used to arrest entire tribes and deny them official documents like domicile certificates and identity cards.

In August 2011, the then President Asif Ali Zardari issued a presidential order to amend the FCRs. Viewed as the most substantive changes in the regulation, the reforms included new time limits on the amount of time local administration officials can wait before informing that they have taken someone prisoner. In addition, the 2011 amendments placed new restrictions on the collective responsibility clause in the regulation.

Political Parties Order 2002 was also amended in 2011. Following the extension of the order (2002) to the tribal areas, political parties have been able to field their own candidates for the National Assembly and Senate seats.

It was only in 1997 when the right of adult franchise was given to the tribal people, as till that period only tribal Maliks could cast votes in elections.

Recently, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Chief, Nasir Khan Durrani, wrote to the federal government through the Governor KP on December 5, 2014 that either Fata should be merged with KP or announced an independent province to improve the law and order situation. The recommendations sent by the IGP asked for extending the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to Fata, installing a border management system to stop entry of terrorists from Afghanistan and deployment of Frontier Constabulary on the boundary between KP and tribal areas. Like many of the letters sent by the KP government regarding improvement in the law and order situation, these recommendations are yet to be answered by the federal government.