Islamabad  - Solution of achieving peace and prosperity in FATA lies in merging the region with province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) along the lines recommended in the Frontier Reforms Report of 2016, said a historian Dr Robert Nicholas on Friday.

Inter University Consortium for Promotion of Social Sciences organised a dialogue with Dr Robert Nicholas, Professor of History, Richard Stockton College, and University of New Jersey, USA.

Renowned historian addressed on ‘Colonial Law: FCR and the Future of FATA’ at the School of Politics and International Relations (SPIR), Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) on “Colonial Law, FCR and the future of FATA” gave an insight on the FCR.

The ‘Frontier Reforms Report 2016’ is a comprehensive report, concluded with immense participation of people serving establishment, knowledgeable authorities about the history of FATA.

“Seventy important years have been wasted discussing how and what could be done, without taking any positive action regarding the solution of issue,” said Dr Robert.

The historian said that the issue has international significance as peace and prosperity in FATA is connected with the prospects of peace and prosperity in Afghanistan and vice versa.

Explaining the historical background he said that expansion of British colonial grip of the Indian Subcontinent in the 19th Century caused management problem.

“Britain established their own system of Police, Justice and Indian Penal Code of 1860,” he said.

British also introduced Punjab Frontier Crimes Regulation in 1887 under which the Governor in Lahore was vested with the authority to address all the problems in the Northwest Frontier Province.

He said this Punjab Frontier Crimes Regulation was renamed Frontier Crimes Regulation after the separation of the NWFP from Punjab in 1901.

“After the British withdrawal from the area in 1947, the Pakistani political agents used the same set of regulations and administrative structures to oversee to administer the renamed Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA),” he said.

Dr Robert said in 2013, 10 important mainstream Political Parties organized a Joint Committee to bring forward a reforms report to introduce amendment in Constitution and reforming the Local Bodies Elections, etc.

All of those Political Parties forged consensus on the issue. Earlier, Dr Nazir Hussian, Director SPIR welcomed the guest and said that today’s talk is important as the issue is being discussed presently in Pakistan.