Parliamentarians of FATA to seek inclusion in PATA

Threaten to demand separate province if draft bill rejected

ISLAMABAD:

Fata parliamentarians said on Monday they will be aiming to get a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly when a draft bill to obtain constitutional authority goes up for voting. This should be a constitutional approval to rid the region of the Frontier Crimes Regulation. In the absence of this, they will demand a separate province.

The Fata parliamentarians are all set to officially submit a draft bill for a proposed constitutional (twenty-second) Amendment Act, 2015. This aims to include all agencies of Fata to be included as part of the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata).

Addressing a news conference on Monday, the Fata parliamentarian said that they were seeking support from all political parties for approval of the draft bill. They said that currently they have a support of all the political parties but they want wider support once the draft bill is presented before the National Assembly.



“We do not want to demand a separate province. However, we have kept it as a last option to get similar rights for the people of Fata as those enjoyed in developed parts of the country,” said lawmaker Fata Shah Jee Gul Afridi.

He said they are trying to meet the president, prime minister, director general of ISI, Chief of Army Staff to discuss the issue and request for their support.

“It is the need of the hour. If the people in power do not support us then a day will come when Fata will become the most dangerous area. This is true not only for Pakistan but for the entire world,” he said.

By turning it into a part of Pata, we can help to bring peace in Pakistan, as well as in the entire world, he said. It is the first time that all Fata parliamentarians have endorsed this decision and made all out efforts to get this demand fulfilled.

“The people of Fata are being treated or considered as strangers or someone from out of this country. They are Pakistanis and whenever there is any terrorist activity taking place anywhere in the country or in the world, Fata is blamed first,” he said.

PML-N MNA from Bajaur Agency Shahabuddin Khan was of the view that the government usually ignores discussing Fata issues.

“The government is least bothered about resolving our issues though Fata is an integral part of the country,” he said.

Currently, he said, Pakistan Army is one of the stakeholders in Fata. Therefore the Fata parliamentarians are trying to approach the chief of army staff to discuss their issues and get them resolved through the proper channel.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2015.