quo, merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and a separate province, adding that he personally was in favour of merging it with KP as the two shared so many things and were almost inseparable. “However, in a democratic Pakistan, the people of the tribal areas should be consulted before taking any decision about their fate,” he stressed.
Referring to suggestions that Fata should be divided into two provinces or southern districts of KP and tribal agencies south of Peshawar should be made into one province and other districts of KP and the three tribal agencies north of Peshawar should be turned into another provinces, he felt further divisions should not be made. “We should talk of uniting the people, not dividing them,” he remarked. In any case, he said major decisions regarding future of Fata are unlikely to be taken until security situation is improved by overcoming militancy and repatriating the more than two million displaced tribal people.
He was of the opinion that one day the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) would have to be abolished and Fata would undergo mainstreaming, but preparations should be made to achieve these objectives by giving up the policy of neglect of the tribal people and allocating more resources to the tribal areas. “Pakistan is paying the price of the neglect of Fata for 68 years after independence,” he added.
Saleem Safi said that Fata should be brought into the mainstream at all costs. He said the notion that the tribal people have their own traditions and they don’t want to come to the mainstream held no grounds.
He said the best option for Fata is to merge it with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.Earlier, Dr Hussain Shaheed Soherwordy said the history of Fata is a dynamic combination of social process, economic change and political realignments.
He said the moot was aimed at analysing peoples’ rights, development, social transformation, local government, political reforms, effective administrative system and positive governance structure.
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