Tribal leaders of the Sipah clan in Khyber tribal district say local government officials have asked them to pay the government a large sum before hundreds of displaced Sipah families can be allowed back to their villages, which they left after a local holy warrior leader began a violent campaign 12 years ago.
Authorities want the clan to pay for the attacks attributed to Mangal Bagh
...a former bus driver, now head of the Deobandi bandido group Lashkar-e-Islam and the Terror of Khyber Agency
..., a member of Sipah who leads the bad boy faction Lashkar-e-Islam
...a group of Islamic bandidos infesting Khyber Agency. It's headed by a former bus driver....
(LI), which is now closely allied with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP). The two organizations are seen as Pakistain's key jihadist enemies and are still active in Khyber and other parts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).
Shah Faisal Afridi, a Sipah leader, says the fine is cruel because years of insecurity destroyed their livelihoods and civilian tribespeople were targeted both by LI members and the security sweeps claiming to target them.
"Now the government has imposed a fine of 120 million rupees (roughly $120,000) on the Sipah tribe because Mangal Bagh is one of its members," Afridi told RFE/RL's Gandhara website. "We reject this punishment because we believe we have suffered many more losses than the government in the fight against terrorists."
Afridi says years of insecurity have destroyed his tribe's livelihoods in Bara, a key trading town in Khyber, and the collective fine is an unfeasible burden for families barely surviving in displacement camps or rented houses in the nearby city of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
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"We were banished from our homes, and now we have no sustainable source of income. How can we pay such a huge sum?" he asks.
Sipah is part of the larger Afridi Pashtun tribe, which straddles the historic Khyber Pass linking Pakistain and Afghanistan. Since his emergence in 2003, Bagh, a former trucker, virtually controlled the lives of more than 200,000 civilians in Bara and surrounding villages.
The state belatedly moved to end his de-facto rule years later when the bad boy leader began extending his control to the outskirts of Peshawar, some 20 kilometers east of Bara. Peshawar also serves as the regional headquarters of a major military formation.
Still, the Political Administration in Khyber says the fine imposed on Sipah is part of re-enacting the collective responsibility clause of the draconian Frontier Crime Regulations (FCR), which is the law of the land in Fata.
This century-old law stipulates that if a person commits a crime, the Political Administration can arrest and punish his family, clan, or even the entire tribe without a transparent judicial process.
Resenting the government's decision of imposing a fine on the Sipah rustics, another tribal elder, Maqbool Khan Afridi, says terrorism is an international issue not limited to Bara.
"We never supported Mangal Bagh or his people. We have always supported the government in its efforts against terrorism," he said. "Our tribe has handed over all the desperados to the authorities. Punishing us now despite all this is total injustice."
Khyber's officials, however, still hold the Sipah tribe equally responsible for the losses inflicted on public infrastructure by
Fahad Wazir, an assistant political agent in Khyber, told Gandhara that the use of pressure under the collective responsibility clause of FCR often proves helpful in prompting cooperation at the local level.
"We have resolved several cases and forced several criminals and desperados [to surrender] after exerting pressure on their families under the collective responsibility clause," he said.
Bara residents say it is the government -- not the locals -- that is responsible for taking action against
Lawmaker Malak Nasar Khan, who represents Bara in the National Assembly, says he has already raised the issue with the Political Administration.
Khan now intends to voice his concerns to the governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
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Tens of thousands of civilians, bad boys, and soldiers have been killed in the decade-old Taliban insurgency across Fata. The fighting has displaced millions of civilians, and more than 1 million civilians from Khyber and other tribal territories remain displaced.