Fata MNA Shah Jee Gul Afridi. PHOTO: FILE
The failure of the federal government to give the tribal areas due representation in the Council of Common Interests (CCI) has raised eyebrows and angered many in Fata.
Elected representatives of tribespeople said the federation seemed to have no interest in Fata. They said there was little choice left but to either appeal to the United Nations or demand [the government make] Fata into a separate entity.
When asked about the representation of tribal lawmakers in the CCI, Fata MNA Shah Jee Gul Afridi told The Express Tribune MNAs from the area were not invited for the moot on Monday (today) in Islamabad.
He said, “Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar once called Fata ‘Ilaqa-e-ghair’ [Land of the lawless] and today the government had proven [this].” Shah Jee Gul said stakeholders now plan to demand Fata be turned into a separate autonomous entity or merged with another region of Pakistan. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz MNA Shahabuddin Khan from Bajaur Agency said there will be no tribal representation when common interests related to the federating units will be discussed at the meeting. “How can people without basic geographic knowledge of the region discuss such matters?”
Shahabuddin said from the day of independence, Fata’s real population statistics remained unknown. However, when the government started registering people displaced by the military operation in North Waziristan Agency, it realised the numbers were indeed sizeable. In fact, experts in November 2014 estimated the figure had crossed the two million mark.
It is expected the matter of a census of the region and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will be discussed at the CCI meeting expected on Monday. However, people from Fata have little confidence and trust in those meeting at the federal capital.
MNA Sajid Hussain Turi said the government was getting Rs40 to Rs45 billion from Fata “thanks to Torkham, Ghulam Khan and Kurram Agency”. However, the Centre only returned Rs14 billion to 18 billion to the tribal belt and Rs8 billion to Rs10 billion of the amount was spent by the FATA Secretariat.
He said Fata’s elected representatives had little function and the Centre’s failure to invite them reflected insincerity towards the tribal belt.
Violating the Constitution
Legal expert on Fata’s constitutional issue Ijaz Mohmand told The Express Tribune, “Although the tribal region is part of Pakistan, there remains a huge constitutional violation.”
He pointed out articles 246 and 247 were against basic human rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
While Article 246 defines the tribal areas, 247 outlines the administration of the region. Most importantly, no act of the Parliament applies to the tribal areas unless ordered by the president of Pakistan. And no court has jurisdiction over the land torn by war.
Mohmand said when there is a constitutional violation, the aggrieved party can appeal under Section 199 in court. However, since the court’s jurisdiction does not extend to Fata, the sense of deprivation keeps deepening in the area. Mohmand also said there was little choice left for Fata’s representatives but to appeal to the UN.
He found it ironic that Fata as part of the federation lacked representation in the CCI. “Various provincial governments are included…there is no representation [for Fata] at a meeting where federal units are discussing their issues of ‘common’ interest.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 29th, 2016.
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