The parliamentarians of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), civil society and tribal people here Friday welcomed passing of historic FATA Bill from Senate of Pakistan, which allowed Supreme Court (SC) and Peshawar High Court (PHC)’s jurisdiction to FATA and termed it a significant step forward towards KP-Fata merger.
While terming passing of the bill from Senate is a landmark achievement of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, they said it will ensure provision of speedy and inexpensive justice to all litigants of Fata.
Member National Assembly (MNA) from Bajaur Agency, Shahabud Din Khan told APP on Friday that passing of the bill from Upper House of the Parliament was a major step forward towards KP-Fata merger.
“Today is a historic day in the history of FATA as the dreams of tribal people for speedy and expensive justice have finally come true,” he said, adding FATA Bill is a major step forward to bring FATA into the country’s mainstream.
Shahabud din said extension of SC and PHC’s jurisdiction to Fata was the long standing demand of people of tribal areas that was fulfilled today by the PMLN Government for which it deserves full credit and appreciation.
He thanked the opposition parties for their support in passing of the bill from Senate and National Assembly.
“It is collective win,” he said, adding extension of PHC’s jurisdiction to Fata has laid a strong foundation of merger of Fata in Khyber Pakthunkhwa.
He said no political party had ever even considered extending the SC and PHC’s jurisdiction to FATA during the last 70 years despite many problems faced by tribal people over years.
PML-N is the only party that had constituted a high-level committee led by the former PM’s advisor on Foreign Affairs Sirtaj Aziz that visited all tribal agencies and frontier regions to make the FATA bill and reforms acceptable to all.
Khan said passing of bill first from National Assembly and now from Senate of Pakistan has paved way to abolish the century-old draconian Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR). He said FCR would be replaced after PHC and SC’s jurisdiction to Fata and people would give same judicial rights as being enjoyed by rest of the country.
Constitutional and legal Expert Alamzaib advocate also lauded passing of Fata bill from Senate, allowing extension of SC and PHC’s jurisdiction to FATA and highly appreciated the parliamentarians of treasury and opposition benches besides tribal people over the passing of the bill from both houses of the Parliament.
Alamzaib said long-standing demand of FATA people to be brought within the ambit of Pakistan’s constitution has finally been fulfilled by PMLN Government and a strong foundation of ending their long sense of deprivations has been laid. He said Fata Bill after signing of the President will become law.
He said Government should now focus on construction of infrastructure for judicial offices, complexes, residential compounds for law officers and appointment of more judges for quick disposal of tribal people cases in Fata.
“FCR is the core cause of backwardness, illiteracy, economic imbalances and poverty in tribal areas and replacement of this draconian law with the SC and PHC would immensely help remove long sense of deprivation among tribesmen and expedite pace of socio-economic development there,” he remarked.
The KP Assembly had adopted a resolution on December 14, 2016, in favour of merging FATA with KP with the aim of rehabilitating and reconstructing the infrastructure including roads, communications, power lines, water supply, education and health facilities.
The recommendations to bring the tribal areas at par with the rest of the country were approved by the federal cabinet on March 2, 2017.
Tribal elders Malik Azmat Khan Alizai, Anwar Khan Dawar and Asghar Afridi said PMLN leadership had won hearts and minds of hundreds of thousands of tribal people by fulfilling their long standing demand of extending SC and PHC’s jurisdiction of Fata and termed it leap step forward to bring Fata into mainstream.
