Tribal Legacies and the State: Re-examining Post-Merger Policing Governance in Khyber

Abstract

This paper revisits policing governance in Khyber as a state periphery after the merger and problematizes the mainstream literature, which analyses it through the lens of state absence or failure. These models inadequately explain everyday governance in the state peripheries. To assess these ideas, Khyber act as a strategic case, owing to its postcolonial and post-merger administrative reforms. The paper examines the prevailing routine policing practices rather than the law in the abstract. For this purpose, empirical data was collected through qualitative interviews and field observations across all four Tehsils of the district Khyber, with respondents drawn from three distinct groups: police officials, local elders, and experts. This paper proposes that policing legitimacy is mutually negotiated and relational, rather than legally conferred, thereby enabling policing to operate through dual authority under formal and informal rules. Thus, governance is multi-scalar and hybrid, shaped by local norms and national security logics. The study is relevant for policing reform and state-building in the peripheral contexts. The paper demonstrates that policing in the state peripheries is not evidence of state failure, but functions through negotiated sovereignty.

Key Words: Policing, Erstwhile FATA, Formal-Informal Governance