Fata’s bad days are over: Abbasi

JAMRUD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Monday that the bad days of tribal people had come to an end as the Fata reforms were at the final stage and would be implemented in a few days.

He said the government had resolved to uplift the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and bring it at par with other parts of the country, to fulfill the commitment made by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the 3rd Governor’s Fata Youth Festival at the Jamrud Sports Complex in Khyber Agency, the prime minister said the government was in the process of enacting the legislation to replace the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) with the laws of Pakistan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal, Deputy Speaker National Assembly Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Adviser to the PM Amir Muqam and Benazir Income Support Programme Chairperson Marvi Memon accompanied the prime minister.

The prime minister told the gathering that the legislation was in the final phase as the government desired to accomplish the process with consensus. “This is not politics. This is need of the hour. This is the commitment made by Quaid-i-Azam and it needs to be fulfilled,” the prime minister remarked.

He said the expertise demonstrated by the Fata youth at the festival showed that they were in no way less than youths from other parts of the country. He said that the peace being enjoyed today in Fata was the result of the sacrifices by 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 the stakeholders together to purge the area of the scourge.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the tribal people always served Pakistan and their sacrifices for the country were unprecedented. He said Quaid-i-Azam had personally visited Fata and made a commitment with the people that needed to be fulfilled.

He said everyone had agreed to replace the FCR with Pakistani laws as it had been formulated by the British to achieve their objectives. He said it was unfortunate that the people of Fata remained bereft of the facilities they deserved but now the government had decided to bring them at par with the other major cities of the country.

He said besides replacing the FCR, provision of required resources was essential and assured the people that the government would provide as much resources as required for the development of the area. The prime minister said a university had already been established in Fata but the government would extend the facility to all the tribal agencies.

He said the government would also make arrangements for girls’ education adding that roads, hospitals and other facilities were the rights of the Fata people. The prime minister said both Islam and Pakistan are peace-loving, having no room for extremism.

He said holding of the festival proved that the sacrifices of the martyrs had come to fruition.

In his address, KP Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra also mentioned the unprecedented sacrifices by the people of Fata at the time when the anti-state elements were poised to threaten the national security.

However, he said, "Now we can claim that Fata is even safer than our cities and the credit goes to the government which launched operations Zarb-e-Azb and Raddul Fasaad by bringing all the stakeholders together."

He said the government was striving to create an awareness among the people through the promotion of sports and cultural activities. Attributing the festival to the martyrs of the war against terrorism, the governor was confident to say that the government had broken the back of terrorists.

He also declared Jamrud as a town besides announcing to build an indoor gymnasium there. Earlier, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that the students of the Islamia College Peshawar (ICP) played a supporting role in accomplishment of the mission of Father of the Nation, Muhammad Ali Jinnah for the creation of Pakistan.

Addressing an impressive function of students at the ICP in connection with 142th birth anniversary of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, he said the Quaid had special fondness for the ICP because of the dynamic role played by its students during the Pakistan Movement.

He said the Father of the Nation visited ICP on several occasions to acknowledge the momentous services of its students in his struggle to create a separate homeland for the Muslims of the Subcontinent.

Quaid-i-Azam was a towering personality of the 20th Century, as he changed the course of history and world geography through a peaceful struggle and his numerous qualities of head and heart were even admired by his political adversaries, he added.

Quaid-i-Azam had no weapons and police but was endowed with the power of education and solid argument that immensely helped him to achieve his goal, he remarked.

He said the Father of the Nation was a great symbol of independence and democracy who strongly believed in the power of masses and that was the major reason that he had created Pakistan after a short span of seven years, following adoption of the historic Pakistan Resolution in Lahore on March 23, 1940.

The prime minister said quality education was imperative for sustained economic growth and prosperity in the country and asked students to take full advantage of the facilities at educational institutions.