FCR in Fata likely to be annulled next week | World Defense

FCR in Fata likely to be annulled next week

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https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/253902-fcr-in-fata-likely-to-be-annulled-next-week
ISLAMABAD: Minister for States and Frontier Region Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch has said that the government is committed to abolishing Fata's (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) black law of Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR), which denied the residents the right to appeal in any court, right to legal representation and the right to present reasoned evidence, on priority.

Planning Commission’s Deputy Chairman Sartaj Aziz said the government is presenting a bill in the National Assembly on December 11, which is likely to be approved by the NA and then it would be finally approved by the Senate later next week.

He said in order to mainstream the Fata economically, a committee was formed which had almost completed its work and would present its report before the National Economic Council (NEC) by the end of the current month. He said three percent of the federal divisible pool would be set aside for Fata, which amounts to around Rs100 billion a year.

He said this allocation would be spent on various development projects in health, education, water, energy and others for socio-economic development of the people of the area. Sartaj Aziz said the government has also planned to expand the Levies force, which according to the plan, would be given the status of police at a later stage.

He said the process of recruiting additional 20,000 personnel in the Levies force would be finalised within 2-3 months and the recruitment process is currently being carried out by the Frontier Corps.

Abdul Qadir Baloch informed that the Rahdari system in Fata is also being abolished from January 1, 2018. He said under this system, heavy taxes were imposed on any commodity being transported from other parts of the country to Fata.

He said a Council of Advisory has been formed comprising members of Fata in the National Assembly and the Senate and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) governor is bound to implement the advice of this committee.

Furthermore, he added that from today Fata's Additional Chief Secretary had been assigned the role of Fata’s Chief Operating Officer to control the issues of the area. He said in health and education sectors of Fata, there were 2,293 vacant posts out of which 1,440 posts had been sanctioned while the remaining would be sanctioned within 15 days. The minister said the government is not delaying any project as it had sufficient funds of Rs80 billion for the current fiscal year.
 

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Imran warns of ‘march’ over Fata-KP merger delay
Amir WasimUpdated December 10, 2017

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ISLAMABAD: PTI chairman Imran Khan addresses his party’s convention on Fata on Saturday.—Online
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Saturday threatened to march on Islamabad if the government did not take any positive step towards merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province by tomorrow (Monday).

Speaking at his party’s Fata Youth Convention, Mr Khan said the PTI wanted to see the merger of Fata with KP taking place before the 2018 general elections as further delay in this regard could provide another opportunity to the terrorists to “get hold of the area”.

“If you agree that the merger should take place before the 2018 general elections, then be ready for a call. The PTI is already in practice of street protests. We will bring the people from the tribal areas and the KP to Islamabad as merger is the right of the Fata people,” Mr Khan said, without using the term ‘long march’.

The PTI chief said they would be meeting on Monday (tomorrow) to review the government’s actions in this regard, after which “we will give the call”.

A 10-point declaration was issued at the end of the convention which was also addressed by KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and attended by representatives of civil society, including media personnel and lawyers.

The PTI chief issued the threat a day after federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions retired Lt Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch and Planning Commission’s deputy chairman Sartaj Aziz announced that the government would table a bill on reforms in Fata in the National Assembly on Monday.

Mr Baloch had stated that Fata’s merger with KP could take a year or two as the merger was not possible without complete preparations. He had also stated that the government was committed to abolishing the Frontier Crimes Regulation on a priority basis because it denied residents of the tribal region the right to lodge any appeal in any court for change in conviction, the right to legal representation and the right to present reasoned evidence.

However, the PTI chief alleged the rulers did not have the “political will” to “mainstream” the troubled tribal areas due to political compulsions. He accused the government of intentionally delaying the merger process.

Mr Khan hit out at two government allies — Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party president Mehmood Khan Achakzai — for “opposing the merger of Fata with KP”.

“The whole assembly agrees on merger. Only [Maulana] Fazlur Rehman and [Mr] Achakzai are the hurdles,” he said amidst slogans “diesel, diesel” against the JUI-F chief. He regretted that Mr Achakzai was creating hurdles even though “he had nothing to do with the matter”.

The PTI chief said that war-torn Fata needed development and reconstruction which was not possible without its merger with KP. He was of the view that if they failed to merge Fata and KP now then it would only be possible in 2023 and by that time it would be too late.

He also called for holding local government elections in Fata as a first step towards its “mainstreaming”. The tribal areas would have some 33 representatives in the KP assembly after its merger and these representatives would be able to raise their voice for the rights of the tribal people.

The PTI chief declared Fata Secretariat a “den of corruption” and called for its immediate abolition. He alleged that under the present set-up, political agents and bureaucrats were minting money through corruption and smuggling.

Mr Khan said that no one should have any doubt about Fata people’s love for Pakistan. He regretted that some 73 per cent of the tribal people were living below the poverty line.

He lamented the mistreatment of the Fata people in Sindh and Punjab provinces and alleged that some of these tribal people had been killed in police encounters. He also criticised the government move of blocking the identity cards of thousands of Fata people.

He termed the decision of initiating a military action in the area on the “dictation of the US” a big crime. This decision, he said, had pitched the army against its own people.

He said the people of Fata had been trapped between the army and the Taliban due to the military operation.

The declaration issued at the end of the convention urged the federal government to “immediately start” the integration of Fata with KP province as “per the wishes of the people of Fata”.

“The federal government and the provinces must commit resources for initiation of 10-year development plan by allocating three per cent of the federal divisible pool on an annual basis so that Fata could be brought at par with the rest of the country,” said the declaration.

It said that “only the KP government has conveyed its agreement to the federal government to deduct its share of funds for the purpose. The KP chief minister will lead the campaign for persuading the three provinces and the federal government to agree on the three per cent allocation”.

It further said “the FCR should be abolished and all the laws of Pakistan extended in a phased manner under a given timeframe.”

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2017
 

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Why were citizens denied in the first place?
 

Hithchiker

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Why were citizens denied in the first place?
Initially it was preferred to have local tribal system prevailed as per agreement and people wished it that way..But with the change in geo-politics along with insurgency situation has been reversed and the demand to implement the mainstream system along with folded in adjacent province of shared cultural and mainstream law has been prevailed..
 
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