Into the mainstream: Locals continue to demand change in FATA status

Say they will leave no stone unturned to enact 22nd Amendment

PESHAWAR: Political leaders, lawyers and elders from Fata met on Saturday and demanded a change in the current status of tribal areas as proposed in the 22nd Constitutional Amendment.

The conference was organised by the FATA Lawyers Forum and attended by elders and representatives of all political parties. MNA Shah Jee Gul Afridi and senior lawyer Abdul Latif Afridi were also in attendance.

Speaking on the occasion, Shah said time had come to include tribespeople into mainstream politics if the government wanted peace restored in the region. “I will leave no stone unturned for the passage of the 22nd Constitutional Amendment in the assembly,” he assured the participants. Afridi added he would convince other political parties to support the bill in parliament.

“Fata’s merger or giving it the status to Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata) would bring the area within the jurisdiction of the superior courts.” He added this would enable representation in the provincial assembly to create legislation for the area and ensure a local government set up for development.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Dr Said Alam Mehsud said they want to get rid of term “tribal people”. “Tribalism is a symbol of backwardness which has been enforced upon us deliberately. We are fed up of such a system and want to join the mainstream,” he said.

In his opinion, terrorism could potentially be eliminated by changing Fata’s status, adding no other strategy would work to achieve this goal.

“The Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) only sheltered militants instead of protecting the people of Fata. We want to get rid of FCR laws from the colonial era,” he stated. Mehsud demanded that Fata be included in decisions on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to alleviate poverty in the region.

Pakistan Peoples Party representatives said they preferred to let people from the seven agencies decide their fate. “We demand either making Fata a separate province or give it a status similar to Gilgit-Baltistan,” said Dr Farooq Afzal, a party representative from Mohmand Agency.

Awami National Party representatives supported Fata’s merger with K-P. ANP leader from Bajaur Agency Ataullah Khan said that tribespeople used hospitals, schools, universities and roads in K-P and the best solution was a merger.

“During our displacement, K-P sheltered us and we use resources belonging to the province because funds allocated by the federal government for Fata alone are too meagre to alleviate poverty,” Ataullah added. He said they would support ideas of a separate province if the federal government gave equal representation in the Senate.

Fata Lawyers Forum General Secretary Rasheed Ahmad Mohmand urged early passage of the bill to bring tribesmen into the mainstream. FLF intends to stage a demonstration outside the Parliament House in Islamabad for the future of Fata. A declaration was moved, which was supported by all parliamentarians, to change constitutional the status of Fata either through a merger with K-P or the creation of a separate governing body. The group also demanded Rs500 billion be allocated for reconstruction and rehabilitation of internally displaced people.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2015.