AMJAD ALI SHAH

PESHAWAR: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Monday that the young people of Federally Administered Tribal Areas have given countless sacrifices in the war against terrorism.

“This is sad that resources haven’t been distributed among people in FATA,” he said while speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Third Governor FATA Youth Sports Festival at Jamrud Sports Complex in Khyber Agency, “Pakistan will progress further with the support of FATA.”

He shared, “All decisions regarding FATA would be made after consulting all stakeholders.” The prime minister remarked that universities will be built in all agencies.

PM said the government was resolved to uplift FATA at par with other parts of the country, to fulfill the commitment made by Quaid-e-Azam.

He said the government was in the process of enacting legislation to replace Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) with the laws of Pakistan.

The prime minister told the gathering that the legislation was in final phase as the government desires to accomplish the process with consensus.

“This is not politics. This is need of the hour. This is the commitment made by Qauid-e-Azam which needs to be fulfilled,” the prime minister remarked.

He said the expertise demonstrated by FATA youth at the festival, evidenced that they were in no way lesser than youths

from other parts of the country.

Governor KP Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal, Deputy Speaker NA Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Advisor to PM Amir Muqam and Chairperson BISP Marvi Memon, accompanied the prime minister.

PM said the peace being enjoyed today in FATA was in consequent to the sacrifices by the security forces personnel, civil administration and the people of the tribal areas.

He said at one time, the elimination of terrorism from FATA looked to be an impossible task but the government achieved the objective by bringing all stakeholders together to purge the area of the scourge.

Regarding the event, Director Sports FATA Muhammad Nawaz Khan remarked that more than 3,000 male and female athletes from across FATA will participate in 30 different sports competitions.

The aim of the games is to project the soft image of FATA besides giving opportunities to tribal youth to demonstrate their skills at national and international level.

‘Pakistan will progress if we adopt Quaid’s principles’

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had remarked that “If we adopt Quaid-e-Azam’s principles, then Pakistan will not be behind any country,” he said while speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Mohammad Ali Jinnah library of Islamia College Peshawar.

He remarked: “Quaid-e-Azam had the power of education and argument.”

Moreover, the PM also stressed the importance of education for any society.

He remarked that there can be no better investment than investing in education, adding that education cannot serve its purpose till there is quality education.

“Not ensuring quality education, defeats the purpose of education,” he remarked.

“Quality education is more important than higher education,” he said.

“Our problems cannot be resolved till we have a quality education.”

The PM also shared that the most important factors of education are its quality and discipline.

Earlier, addressing a ceremony in connection with birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah at Islamia College here, PM said it was inevitable to ensure provision of quality education at educational institutions along with the higher education.

The PM said just awarding of mere degrees to the students would not work, until they are inculcated discipline and knowledge.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi earlier also inaugurated Muhammad Ali Jinnah Library at the college premises.

He said the government had made a commitment to establish a university at every district level that would be a great step forward in the education sector.