FATA reforms: G-B-style govt system on the cards

SAFRON minister says all stakeholders will be taken on board

ISLAMABAD: The government has envisioned a “Gilgit-Baltistan style” governance structure for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and a council comprising tribal people to run their own affairs.

SAFRON Minister Lieutenant General (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch said this during a meeting of the Senate Committee of the Whole on Thursday.

He said a 10-year development programme, which he called a “mini-Marshall plan” had been designed for Fata in partnership with the Frontier Works Organisation and the National Logistics Cell. “We will take all stakeholders, including the security establishment and the grand jirga, on board before adopting any system,” he said. The government also plans to set up two universities in Fata.

According to him, the government needs to restore peace in the tribal areas and settle the internally-displaced people in their homes before undertaking reforms.

Senator Farhatullah Babar said any change in Fata could not be imposed from the outside. “We should first go for those things on which there is broad-based agreement of the tribal people, as well as political parties,” he said.

The first thing he suggested is reforms in the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR). He recalled that modifications were announced in August 2011 and the process needed to be carried forward.

According to Article 1 of the Constitution, Fata is a part of Pakistan, but according to Article 247(7), its people cannot approach superior courts asking for their fundamental rights.

“This contradiction needs to be set aside,” the senator added. Last year the Peshawar High Court had also pointed this out and called for legislation to address this issue.

The Senate has already unanimously passed a bill aimed at deleting Article 247(7) which is pending with the National Assembly.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2015.