Equality for all: Tribal leaders urge govt to amend Article 247

Criticise the Centre, FATA Secretariat, FDMA for failing the people of the region

PESHAWAR: Without amendments in Article 247 of the Constitution, peace and development are a long shot in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), tribal leaders said at a seminar on Thursday at Peshawar Press Club. 

The seminar was organised under the aegis of FATA Lawyers Forum (FLF). It was attended by lawyers, students and civil society organisations to investigate appropriate means to repatriate internally displaced persons (IDPs) to North Waziristan. Tribal leaders urged the government to make suitable amendments to Article 247. Tribesmen have been deprived of basic constitutional and legal rights, they added.



Among the other things, Article 247 states, “Neither the Supreme Court nor a High Court shall exercise any jurisdiction under the Constitution in relation to a Tribal Area…”

Tribal leader Malik Khan Marjan said FATA Secretariat embezzled billions of rupees in the name of serving the interests of tribesmen. He termed the FATA Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) a failed institution and urged the government to repatriate IDPs to North Waziristan.

Not of the people

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Akhunzada Chattan raised his voice in support of the tribesmen and citizens of the settled areas. “Although they belong to the same country, they are not governed by the same Constitution,” he said.

Major political parties had been trying to implement reforms in Fata but bureaucrats were indifferent to the matter and repeatedly created hurdles, added Chattan.

FLF president Ijaz Mohmand expressed concern over the state’s unwillingness to recognise the tribesmen’s fundamental rights the same as citizens of the settled areas.

He warned if their rights are not safeguarded, the tribesmen from Fata will hold protests in Islamabad until their demands are accepted.

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Fata chapter ameer Sahibzada Haroonur Rashid said the issues faced by tribesmen should be unanimously resolved by all political parties.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Iqbal Afridi said both the provincial and federal governments had ignored the plight of the tribesmen.

“If the name of the province can be changed through the 18th amendment, why it is not possible to amend Article 247 of the Constitution” he said.

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