Abstract
The long-existing multipronged crisis and conflict in the remote Pakhtun tribal areas
of Pakistan, has been a topic of concentrated debate. There has been a conflict of
opinion among historians, political analysts, legal-constitutional experts and officials
regarding the factors underlying the crisis and conflict in the region, formerly called
FATA, and its solution. This paper discovers that the underlying cause of
multidimensional political, economic and social crisis and the resultant conflict
there has been the indeterminate or imprecise political and legal status of the
region. The political and legal confusion regarding the region although has had
existed since the creation of Pakistan but exacerbated after 9/11 terrorist attacks in
the U.S. as the region became the largest base of national and international
terrorist organizations. Militants and terrorists interacted with the long-existing
political, economic and social crisis, which resulted in colossal conflict. This study
throws light on the crisis and conflict, region’s existing decadent and decrepit
political-legal apparatus and the best alternative political arrangement in this
regard. The research approach for the paper is qualitative and methodology
includes personal interviews of authors with experts and stakeholders, secondary
data analysis on the subject and documentation of the main themes on the topic.
