In the past, several committees were formed and many reforms were made in the FCR but these were not implemented
SOUTH WAZIRISTAN AGENCY, FATA: Fata has been ruled by the British-implemented law, the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), from 1901. After the birth of Pakistan, the people of the area raised their voices against this brutal law. In the past, several committees were formed and many reforms were made in the FCR but these were not implemented in the practical sense. Recently, parliamentarians from Fata submitted the Fata Reforms Bill in the National Assembly and demanded the integration of Fata with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). In this regard, on November 8, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif formed a five-member committee for finalising reforms in the tribal areas. The committee will be headed by Sartaj Aziz, his adviser on foreign affairs. The other members of the committee are Minister for SAFRON Lt General (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch as secretary, K-P Governor Sardar Mehtab Khan Abbasi, National Security Adviser Lt General (retd) Naseer Khan Janjua and the government’s top legal expert, MNA Zahid Hamid.
Unfortunately, all members of the committee are non-residents of the tribal areas and none of them is from Fata. It is very strange that no representation has been given to the actual people who have been raising their voices against the brutal FCR law. How will this committee deal with the problems if its members have not lived through them? Furthermore, the committee members are not familiar with cultural traditions and customs of the tribal areas and I do not believe they will be able to make positive reforms in Fata. There are many talented and experienced people from Fata in the bureaucracy, military and in other institutions of the country. The government should take at least one or two members from the area on the committee formed by the prime minister. It seems that the current government is not serious about reforms in Fata and, like in the past, this committee will fail in creating effective reforms. This also shows the weakness of the parliamentarians from the tribal areas. The constant refrain on Fata reforms has become a pastime for politicians and there is a need to break this inertia of bringing reforms through committees that have no representation of the tribal people.
Rafiudinn Mehsud
Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th, 2015.
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