Fata Reforms Commission recommendations protested

JAMRUD: The leaders of various political parties have rejected the recommendations of Fata Reforms Commission and threatened to hold a sit-in in the front of Parliament House in Islamabad if the recommendations were not reversed forthwith.
Leaders of Pakistan People’s Party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Awami National Party, Qaumi Watan Party, Jamiat Ulama-i- Islam-Fazl), Jamaat-i-Islami and Pakistan National Party along with hundreds of their supporters on Sunday organised a protest rally at the historic Bab-i-Khyber to raise voice against the recommendations of the Fata Reforms Commission constituted by the governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Addressing the protest rally, the political leaders totally rejected such proposals presented before the governor. They said the wishes and aspirations of people of Fata were totally ignored while devising the recommendations about bringing changes in the prevailing system of governance in Fata.
PPP Fata leader Akhunzada Chattan said: “The recommendations don’t protect and safeguard the basic legal and human rights of people of Fata, nor does those ensure and just administrative and legal system and thus we reject them in totality.”
Chattan called upon the federal government and the president to repeal the controversial Article 247 of the constitution and demanded the provision of constitutional powers to the Fata parliamentarians of legislation for their own region. Political leaders completely rejected the Fata Reforms Committee-proposed Agency Council and Governor Council.
They said these councils were not true representative bodies of tribal people. The tribal leaders said that making political agent chairman of the proposed Agency Council was against the essence of a democratic local government system.
JI leader Zarnoor Afridi said tribal people had rejected Fata Council. He said they would not accept the creation of such undemocratic councils as a continuation of the prevailing system that had kept people of Fata underdeveloped.
Arbab Tahir of the ANP said the present struggle was aimed at emancipating Fata from the prevailing inhuman and cruel system of governance in which all administrative, judicial and executive powers were vested in the office of political agent. JUI-F leader Maulana Abdul Jalil Jan said that they wanted Islamic system in Fata and rest of Pakistan.