Youth Parliament demands 21st amend for FATA reforms

Former Pakistani ambassador to USA and former foreign secretary Riaz Khokhar said on Thursday there was a dire need to redefine and revisit the foreign policy of Pakistan.
He was speaking on ‘Pak-US Ties’ at the fourth day of the second session of Youth Parliament Pakistan.
With Youth Speaker Sara Abdul Wadood in the chair, the session began with the special prayers for the recovery and healing of National Assembly Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi’s father.
After giving a detailed historical perspective of the Pak-US relations, Khokhar suggested the future policy and admired the level of understanding and knowledge of the parliament members.
After a highly informative session with Khokhar, some members moved a resolution demanding the mutual relations on equal grounds. Muhammad Haseeb Ahsen, from Sindh, said every effort should be done to ensure increased cooperation between Pakistan and USA.
The first motion of the day was moved regarding the requirement of introducing legal reforms for the present status of tribal areas. The parliament unanimously adopted a motion calling for the 21st constitutional amendment to remove all constitutional hitches in the provision of legal, social and political rights to the people of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
Members from FATA expressed their concern about the negative role played by the government in this regard. Aamir Abbas, a parliament member from FATA, said the area’s people have long been deprived of their basic rights and that despite the 18th and 19th constitutional amendments, the government could not introduce any reforms for FATA.
Siraj Memon said it was ironic that the 20 parliamentarians from FATA have the powers to legislate for any part of the country but of their own. The second motion was moved to discuss the possibility of recognising the provincial status of FATA. The members said the people of the tribal areas are not enjoying equal political, social and administrative rights.
Jamal Naseer Jamee, a parliament member from Sindh, said the demarcation of provinces is not the solution of all the problems and we need to be focused on our other basic problems. Youth Law Minister Umer Ayaz AJK and Gilgit Baltistan cannot be compared with FATA as both have different status. He said Article 247 gives an ambiguous view of FATA, calling for legislation to reform it.
Tauseef, another mover of the motion, said the parliament needs to legislate for immediate replacement of the jirga with parliamentarians for consultation.
Youth Interior Minister Hafeezullah Wazir said it is unfortunate that the constitution prohibits the representatives of FATA to legislate for their own constituencies. He lauded the support extended by the parliamentarians from Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan for constitutional amendment to provide rights to FATA people. Youth Prime Minister Muhammad Hashim Azeem endorsed the viewpoints expressed by the parliamentarians discussing the deprivations of people of FATA. He said the government should move ahead in this regard and introduce a bill on the issue for legislation.