LAHORE: An All Parties Conference (APC) hosted by the Jamaat e islami, on FATA in Islamabad on Monday fully endorsed the 22nd constitutional amendment moved by the members of the parliament from FATA and stressed upon the government to adopt solid steps for ending unrest and lawlessness in tribal areas and for establishing permanent peace there.
Addressing the moot, JIP Ameer Sirajul Haq, said that the people of the tribal areas must be given all political, economic and human rights that had been denied to them so far and they should be authorized to use their resources and enabled to lead peaceful and respectable lives.
Prominent leaders from all political parties including Secretary General, PML(N), Senator Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khurshid Shah, JUI(F)’s Maulana Ataur Rahman, Qaumi Watan Party’s Aftab Ahmed Sherpao, ANP’s Bushra Gauhar, MQM’s Senator Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, PTI’s Iqbal Afridi, and Balochistan Party ;s Mukhtar Bacha, also addressed the conference and supported the move by the tribal areas members.
A declaration adopted at the APC said that even after 68 years of independence, the constitutional status of the ten million tribal people was not clear. Except for two articles, the entire constitution was not enforced there. In spite of being a part of the Pakistan, the tribal areas were out of the jurisdiction of the superior judiciary and the parliament. Te power to frame laws for the tribal areas lay with the President. As such, there was a constitutional and legal vacuum.
The declaration termed the 22th amendment moved by the members from tribal areas as most timely and said this required the support of all political parties so that the tribal areas were either made a part of the Khyber P., as would ensure their representation in the provincial assembly and the jurisdiction of the superior courts would be extended to these areas.
The declaration said that because of the war like situation, the tribal people had been made homeless and had taken shelter in other parts of the country. Around two lakh houses had been demolished in tribal areas but the government had done no taken adequate measures for their reconstruction.
It demanded a financial package of Rs. 500 billion aong wigth immediate measures for the return of the IDPs o their homes and their rehabilitation.
The APC also demanded compensation of Rs. One million for each death in the recent quake and Rs. Five lakh for each injured, besides Rs. Five lakh to each family for house construction.
Sirajul Haq appreciated that the senior leaders of all political parties had gathered under one roof to support the genuine demands of the tribal people.
