- Says Fazal, Achakzai played negative role, as they are being used by govt to delay FATA reform process
Inhabitants of the troubled-hit Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) voiced serious doubts about the government’s intention to reform the FATA, dubbing the whole process a well-scripted drama.
They were of the view that if the government was really sincere to develop and mainstream the region, it should have released the promised developmental funds to carry out the development works until consensus evolved on its merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
FATA—once known as a strong bastion of militants—is being ruled under the centuries-old black law known as Frontier Crime Regulation (FCR). The government started the process with great pomp and show to reform the area and to bring at par with the rest of the country.
However, the government succumbed to the pressure of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai, who emerged as a strong opponent of the idea of a merger of FATA with KP, and played the role of spoilers.
Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz once promised that the National Finance Commission (NFC) would be requested to consider allocating three per cent of the gross federal divisible pool on an annual basis for the implementation of the Fata Development Plan. This would be in addition to the existing allotment of Rs21 billion from the annual Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
However, the government has only allocated a meagre amount of Rs26 billion in budget 2017-18 for the FATA instead.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Anitha Mehsud, a social activist, said that Fazal Rehman and Achakzai are mainly responsible for the delay of the much-needed reform process.
She said that Fazal Rehman is fast losing his political ground in the region—which was once his strong political base—ever since extension of Political Act to FATA, which has led to his party winning very few seats from there.
Anitha said that it is crystal clear that his party will hardly win a seat from there once FATA merged with KP; therefore, he kept on delaying the process, making one excuse after another for political mileage at the cost of the poor tribal people.
In addition, she said that NFC is another main reason for delay of FATA reform or else the government would have released the promised developmental funds because the provinces are not willing to play their part in FATA development.
“The people of FATA are feeling the sense of deprivation due to the government’s attitude of treating them as aliens, and such thinking has given birth to extremist tendencies, which already cost the country heavily,” she added.
Anitha said that now the people of the area are well-aware of their rights, so they should keep on raising their voice until its realisation, or else they would lose the given opportunity.
Arshad Afridi, a student at Quaid-e-Azam University, said that the opposition political parties are equally responsible for the delay of the issue, as they never sincerely forced the government to implement the reform package.
He said that the opposition political parties have been protesting and boycotting the budget session on the issue of not live telecasting their speeches, but they never took such a bold stance on the FATA issue.
“It is quite astonishing that the government is delaying the implementation of FATA reforms to appease its two political allies, despite the fact that the Pak Army is fully supporting the idea, and people at large are also willing to merge FATA with KP,” he added.
FATA Student Organisation (FSO) Women Wing President Samreena Khan Wazir said that the government was not sincere in implementing the long-awaited FATA reform package, as it was being delayed through various excuses tactfully.
“The government’s intention to develop FATA could be judged from the fact that a meagre amount of Rs26.9 billion has been allocated for FATA in the next fiscal budget 2017-18,” she lamented.
Dar, during his budget, speech confessed that the provinces are not willing to give a share of three per cent of their NFC share to FATA; hence, the promised money has not been released, she added.
She said that it was Fazal Rehman who derailed the whole process owing to his vested interests, adding that they are being used by the premier, who is himself badly entangled in the Panama Leaks case.
“It is quite unfortunate that the federal and provincial governments are not willing to give a little amount for FATA development, despite the fact that foreign funding received by Pakistan on the name of FATA development has been utilised elsewhere in the country,” she added.
When this scribe approached Imtiaz Gul, Center for Research and Security Studies Islamabad Chairman, for his comments on the issue, he said that the government doesn’t have the political will and courage to implement the much-needed reform package mainly due to political expediency.
About Fazal Rehman and Achakzai, he said that they played a very negative role in the whole saga, as they are being used by the government to delay the reform process.
“I personally don’t see any point in increasing the allocation for FATA because billions of rupees have gone into FATA in the last 15 years, but there is no accountability; if there is no accountability, there is no point in increasing the fund because it goes for the benefit of the few pockets,” he added.
Gul said, ideally, the promised FATA reform must be implemented and the writ of the government should be extended with entire infrastructure, and only then allocation could be increased for the region.