FATA Youth Conference: Youth assembly holds first ever session in Mohmand

Members term political awareness critical for region’s progress

GHALLANAI: For the first time ever, Mohmand Agency political administration hosted a youth parliamentarians’ conference in the agency on Tuesday.

Members of Provincial Youth Assembly (PYA) flocked to Ghallanai Jirga Hall where a detailed session was conducted.

The FATA Youth Conference was chaired by Senate Committee for SAFRON Chairman Senator Hilal Rehman. Mohmand Zalmay Organisation collaborated with the political administration to put the event together. In his address, Mohmand Agency political agent Waqar Ali Khan termed the conference a step in the right direction.

Awami National Party, Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf representatives were grilled by the energetic youth assembly members. Political leaders were questioned on their parties’ contribution towards bringing about constitutional, administrative and judicial reforms for the tribal belt.

Tribal boundaries

Several issues pertinent to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas were discussed at the meeting.



While the education and health sectors, and governance were scrutinised at large, attendees dissected the Frontier Crimes Regulation in detail. They demanded abolishment of Article 246, 247 of the Constitution (status of tribal areas) and called for merging the entire tribal belt into Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Participants laid emphasis on the need for a local government system in Fata.

PYA SAFRON minister, Rizwan Afridi presented a resolution, calling for a special package for displaced families and the reconstruction of the area’s infrastructure.

He asked that FATA University be established without delay. “Lakaro Degree College has been locked up for a very long time now. We will request Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad to issue directives for its reopening.”

Bottom up

Talking to The Express Tribune, PYA Chief Minister Umair Ali Shah said as the region moves towards normalcy, “it is time the tribal youth became aware of its rights. The tribespeople have remained deprived for decades,” he added.

Explaining the model parliament’s “bottom-up philosophy”, Shah said mobilising youth was the only way the tribal society could move forward. “The region’s infrastructure is in dire straits. The youth will have to raise their voice for its rehabilitation.”

The PYA CM added political awareness was the first step towards the cause. “We will table our recommendations before policymakers.”

First of the first

A female youth parliamentarian’s participation in the session showed inclusivity in the tribal sphere is possibly only a matter of time.

PYA standing committee member Nihal Tabassum is the first woman to attend a policy advocacy conference in Mohmand. “I met a lot of locals at the moot. My view of the tribal society has changed completely. I did not feel out of place at the conference,” she told The Express Tribune. “However, we discussed almost everything under the sun yet the issue of women’s rights was never brought up,” she said. “The need exists to revisit priorities for societal progress.”

The PYA is a self-financed organisation that boasts 5,000 members from all over K-P. Additionally, 700 of its members hail from Fata.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2015.