Lawyers want Fata merged into KP, FCR abolished

PESHAWAR: The Fata Lawyers Forum (FLF) President Rahim Shah Afridi on Thursday reiterated the demand to merge the tribal belt into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and abolish the British-inherited Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).

Speaking at a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, Rahim Shah said that the tribal lawyers had initiated the move for bringing reforms in the tribal system and motivated the tribal parliamentarians to make legislation for the merger of Fata into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “However, the federal government did not include the legal fraternity in the Reforms Committee and only the opinions of pro-government people were taken in this regard,” he added.

Lawyers and social workers from the tribal areas were also present on the occasion. The Fata Lawyers Forum president said that like other parts of the country, the tribal people should be given constitutional and other basic rights. “The Supreme Court and high court’s jurisdiction should also be extended to the tribal belt,” he said and demanded representation for the tribal people in the provincial assembly.

He said that like the political parties, the Fata lawyers had also rejected the Fata Reforms Committee as it was only considering the views of pro-government and privileged tribal Maliks in their meetings.