In the fold: PML-N leaders demand FATA’s merger with K-P

Accuse FDMA and local NGOs of corruption.

KHAR:

Leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have demanded the abolition of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) and the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

Addressing a news conference in Khar, Bajaur Agency, PML-N Fata leaders, Malik Muhammad Akbar, Haji Mohmand Shah accompanied by others, said the backwardness of the tribal areas can be directly attributed to the FCR.



“In the presence of this law, basic human rights are not extended to the tribal areas and even the lawmakers from the region cannot make legislation for Fata without prior permission of the president of Pakistan,” said Akbar.

“The residents of Fata are facing many difficulties due to the FCR as the Constitution of Pakistan is not extended here and we are treated under a black law,” said Akbar.

He added if the government does not want to abolish the FCR then it should merge Bajaur with Malakand Agency which comes under the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas and where the FCR is no longer in effect.

Furthermore, Malik Dawood Alizai and Malik Abdullah blamed the FATA Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) and other rehabilitation institutes working in the region of being “rife with large-scale corruption.”

Abdullah claimed the FDMA had embezzled millions from reconstruction projects in the agency.

“Through a fake survey, the FDMA drew up fabricated lists of several people whose properties suffered damages due to militancy. These people received reconstruction money from the FDMA even though they suffered no damages,” claimed Abdullah.

The PML-N leader also blamed non-governmental organisations (NGO) in Bajaur of hiring employees from outside of Fata despite the fact that the tribal areas have hundreds of skilled and trained youth. “The problem of unemployment can be solved if NGOs hire locals but there is no system of check and balance on any organisation working here,” he added, demanding an audit for these institutions. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2014.