ABDUL RASHEED AZAD

ISLAMABAD: The speakers of a conference on Thursday called for immediate constitutional and legislative measures to the mainstream Fata to avoid any further delay.

In prioritizing the way forward for implementation of Fata Reforms Package, approved by the Federal Cabinet on March 2, 2017, representatives of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, political parties, academia, media, political and human rights activists, elders from the Fata and members of the civil society said that though there may be some flaws and paradoxes in the proposed reforms package, status quo was not certainly an option.

This was the crux of the conference titled “Implementation of Fata Reforms Package: Setting the Priorities” held at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) in collaboration with Ministry of Safron on Thursday.

They called for the immediate constitutional and legislative measures to mainstream Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and expressed apprehensions that any further delay may provide an opportunity to the vested interests to sabotage this historic and critical move.

“We have to move forward, set our priorities straight and put our house in order to mainstream the Fata to end the decades-old sense of frustration and deprivation among its people.”

The panellists of the session, which was presided over by DG-IPS Khalid Rahman, included: Khalid Aziz, former chief secretary, KP, Muzaffar Said, KP’s minister of finance, Haji Fazal Ilahi, Advisor to Chief Minister, KP, Afrasiab Khattak, former senator and central leader of Awami National Party, Akhundzada Chattan, central leader of Pakistan People’s Party and former MNA from Fata, Shahryar Afridi, PTI leader and MNA, Senator Sajjad Hussain Turi, former Ambassador Ayaz Wazir, Brigadier Said Nazir(retd), Sardar Khan, president, Fata Political Alliance, Dr Ashraf Ali, Dr Shahryar Khan and Karam Elahi.

Speaking on the occasion, former chief secretary Khalid Aziz said that over 73 per cent of citizens in the Fata are living below the poverty line, adding it is imperative that the reform process is carried forward to ensure relief to the citizens of the Fata. He informed that this current package pursues the goal to bring the Fata into mainstream and provide equal rights to its citizens in the modern era of the country.

Giving details of the government’s initiatives, Aziz expressed the hope that the reform package will prove a game changer not only for the people of the Fata, but also for the entire region in general. Elaborating the methodology for phased implementation of the reforms agenda, the former chief secretary said the proposed 10 years comprehensive socio-economic development plan offers enough for reconstruction of the damaged infrastructure, besides creating job and employment opportunities for unemployed youth.

Afrasiab Khattak said the government has to come up with a timeframe for materialising the agenda. Pointing out to some of the lacunas and ambiguities the programme has, Khattak called for a participatory approach. He said the KP government, being an important stakeholder must be fully taken on board, while making any decision on this front. In case of merger, Khattak suggested to ensure the appropriate representation of the Fata people, on the floor of the assembly as well as on the Cabinet to satisfy their grievances, they had developed over the years.

Haji Fazal Ilahi said how come the elected provincial representatives from the Fata could be made answerable to the governor. He asked the government to overcome the ambiguities and come up with a clear-cut and well-defined programme for the Fata’s merger into KP. He suggested that the chief minister, being the chief executive of the province as an important stakeholder, should be in the driving seat regarding reform agenda.

KP’s Finance Minister Muzaffar Said, while praising the government’s reform agenda asked for more clarity on some of the points. He suggested the government to make its point clear on how the Riwaj Act will work in the reformed Fata and what would be the working relationship between the elected representatives of KP and those coming out from the Fata, who would be answerable to the governor.

He stressed for the immediate constitutional and legislative measures to mainstream the Fata and assured that issues related to the NFC Award and distribution of resources between KP and Fata can be resolved amicably, when representatives of the Fata will be elected for KP assembly in 2018.

Expressing his reservations on the proposed Riwaj Act, Shehryar Khan raised questions on the will of the government. He said that the womenfolk should be given proper representation and due say in framing the strategies for implementation of reforms agenda.

Ayaz Wazir, a former diplomat, suggested that three per cent share in the NFC Award should be raised to seven per cent to address the long-standing issues of the marginalised and neglected region.

Sardar Khan asked for the immediate materialisation of the government reforms agenda to avoid from being spoiled at the hands of the spoilers and give the war-stricken people of Fata a chance to live in peace.

Akhundzada Chattan called for revisiting Pakistan’s Afghan policy as the country’s peace is directly linked to the peace in the neighbouring Afghanistan. Any reform agenda would be meaningless unless there is peace in the region, he added.

DG-IPS Khalid Rahman stressed that the issue is of great importance regarding national, regional and global scenarios.