PESHAWAR - Leaders of FATA Political Alliance (FPA) have demanded abolishment of the British-era Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) from the tribal region, and called for amendments in the constitution’s article 247, to ensure all constitutional rights to tribal people.
Addressing at press conference at press club here on Thursday, President of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Political Alliance Haji Iqbal Afridi said that some anti-reform elements wanted to create hurdles in merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He added the FATA people wanted complete abolishment of draconian Frontier Crime Regulatory (FCR) from tribal region.
Flanked by members of the alliance, Zar Noor Afridi of JI, Ijaz Afridi from NP, Nisar Khan of ANP and Mustafa from QWP, he alleged that a massive scale misappropriation of foreign aid and development funds had made in Federally Administered Tribal Areas due to lack of any checking and monitoring system.
Zar Noor Afridi called for mainstreaming the Federally Administered Tribal Areas through brining legal and political reforms and to make appropriate amendments into the article 247 of the constitution for provision of legal and constitutional rights to tribesmen.
He alleged the Federally Administered Tribal Areas had been deliberately kept backward in all fields.
Afridi said the basic infrastructure had badly damaged due to ongoing military operation in Miranshah, North Waziristan Agency.
He criticized the government over poor arrangements for Temporarily Displaced persons (TDPs) from Federally Administered Tribal Areas at their makeshift camps.
He also expressed concern over snail pace of repatriation of the displaced families of various tribal agencies, while the government has yet not announced rehabilitation and reconstruction package for Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
Ijaz Afridi demanded of the Prime Minister of Pakistan to announce at least Rs 500 billion for rehabilitation and reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure system.