ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s tribes people of Federally Administered Tribal Areas(Fata) celebrated the passage of bill, paving the way to bringing therestive Federally Administered Tribal Areas, known as Fata, into thepolitical mainstream.
Dancing to drumbeats, people gathered at Parachinar, the capital of KurramAgency, and the largest city in Fata, to hail the passage of the new billthat promises prosperity and peace after years of mayhem and war.
The landmark bill to merge Fata with the neighbouring province ofKhyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was passed by the National Assembly on Thursday andby the Senate on Friday by an overwhelming 71-5 vote. The bill aims toextend political, administrative and socioeconomic reforms in the militancyhit tribal areas.
During a news conference at Parachinar Press Club, Senator Sajjad Turi saidthe merger spelt actual freedom for the people of Fata and would pave theway for progress in the north western region.
Senator Sajjad Turi, Zahid Hussain, Abrar Jan Turi, Ali Begum, MansabBangash and other leaders said that the people of Fata would now be able toenjoy real freedom. They said the bill had foiled all the conspiraciesbeing hatched against the Fata people and given them their due rights.
The KP-Fata merger offers Fata’s five million citizens access tofundamental rights under the constitution. The tribes people residing inseven agencies namely Khyber, Kurram, Orakzai, Mohmand, Bajaur, NorthWaziristan and South Waziristan, would now enjoy equal rights to gainaccess to health, education and development funds along with otherprovinces.
Locals said the bill would end decades-long deprivation faced by the peopleof Fata after merger with the KP province. Many people in Landikotal,Khyber Agency, also celebrated the achievement, saying that the abolitionof Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) and changes in the administrative andjudicial system of Fata had been a long-standing demand of the tribalpeople.
A local journalist, Attaullah Afridi, said that the century-old repressiveFCR law was finally abolished due to untiring efforts of political parties.“It’s time for the Fata people to reject non-political people and bringcapable people to the Parliament,” he was quoted as saying by Geo News.
While many appreciated the merger, some people said this step had beentaken in haste. Fazlur Rahman Afridi, a local resident, said instead of themerger, Fata should have been given the status of a province, adding thatthe merger will increase the problems of Fata.
Some locals have raised their concerns that at a time when the Fata peopleare celebrating the passage of Fata merger bill, the JamiatUlema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), the party who opposed the merger, would nowblock the passage of the bill by the KP Assembly. JUI-F Fata leader MuftiAbdul Shakoor also reportedly said that the party would halt the bill inthe KP Assembly.
KP Assembly is where the bill would now be presented where it should bepassed with a two-thirds vote before the expiry of its term on May 28,three days before the National Assembly’s dissolution. The bill would thenbe presented before President who would sign it into a law.