The Ethics of Representation in Pakistan: Who Speaks, Who is Heard, Who is Silent in The Erstwhile Fata Region

Abstract

This study examines the ethics of representation in the tribal districts of Khyber, Orakzai, and Bajaur, which were merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through the 25th Constitutional Amendment. Using a qualitative research design, the study draws on 63 semi-structured interviews, 12 focus group discussions, and discourse analysis of 410 news articles (2018–2025), along with parliamentary debates and post-merger policy frameworks. Grounded in postcolonial theory, epistemic justice, securitization, and symbolic power, the research explores who represents these districts, whose knowledge gains legitimacy, and whose voices remain marginalized. The findings reveal that centralized epistemic hierarchies within state institutions, urban academic spaces, and English-language media shape dominant narratives, while securitized discourses continue to frame frontier identities. Youth and women particularly face testimonial marginalization and hermeneutic exclusion in policy processes. The study argues that ethical representation requires redistribution of symbolic capital, participatory governance mechanisms, protection of dissent, and a decolonial approach in academia and media. Without epistemic justice, the political integration of the tribal districts remains incomplete.