Senate told: Citizenship Act does not apply to FATA

FATA Christians cannot get domicile under prevailing law despite having lived there for generations.

ISLAMABAD:

The century-old Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) act which governs the troubled Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) not only denies the basic human rights of religious minorities, but also denies residents citizen rights, it emerged on Thursday.

These startling revelations came to the fore in the Senate when ministers highlighted that minorities’ rights in Fata are severely lacking.

For the first time, it was pointed out in parliament that Christians living in Fata since 1914 cannot get a domicile under the prevailing colonial era law (FCR) enforced by British rulers in 1901.

After cosmetic changes, the same draconian laws are enforced in the lawless tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Two female lawmakers, PPP Senator Farhat Abbass and ANP Senator Farah Aqil, raised the matter of non-issuance of domicile certificates to the Christian community residing in Fata.

Aqil who was present in the House when the issue was taken up, claimed that the Christian community residing in Fata for several decades has not been issued domicile certificates.

The domicile is one of the very basic pre-requisites for applying for a job or a seat in college and university under the quota system.

The ANP legislator further claimed that many Christian communities had been living in Fata for generations, with most residence records showing that they had settled there since 1914.

Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab responded that domicile in Fata is issued only to local residents under the 1901 FCR Act.

He said the Christian community came there for jobs after the enforcement of the act and that they are given a CNIC and they can purchase property, but the law does not permit the issuance of a domicile to them. Instead, however, they are issued a Permanent Resident Certificate.

The minister’s startling revelation that the Citizenship Act of Pakistan is not applicable to Fata areas created a stir in the House.

Leader of the Opposition Aitzaz Ahsan questioned how the Citizenship Act is not applicable to Fata if the region is part of Pakistan.

The chair also expressed his concerns over the issue and referred the matter to the relevant standing committee for further deliberation.

Debate on privatisation

The Senate also began a discussion on a motion regarding the privatisation policy of the government. Initiating the debate‚ Raza Rabbani described the government’s privatisation policy as ‘anti-worker’.

He said the government should expand its tax-net by imposing taxes on the affluent class and that the money generated from it should be spent to transform state-owned enterprises into profitable entities.

Talha Mehmoud appreciated the government for making top level appointments in public sector organisations on the basis of merit but expressed serious reservations over the privatisation of a large number of state-owned enterprises.

Nasreen Jalil supported the privatisation policy of the government but said rights of employees should be protected in the process besides ensuring transparency.

Raja Zafarul Haq assured the house to take up the matter of threats to Naseema Ehsan, Zahid Khan and Raza Rabbani with concerned officials of the interior ministry.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2014.