JAMRUD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Monday said the government was resolved to elevate the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) at par with other parts of the country, to fulfil the commitment made by the founder of the country, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
Addressing the opening ceremony of Third Governor’s FATA Youth Festival at Jamrud Sports Complex in Khyber Agency, the prime minister said the government was in the process of enacting legislation to replace Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) with the laws of Pakistan.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Advisor to PM Amir Muqam and Benazir Income Support Programme Chairperson Marvi Memon accompanied the prime minister.
The prime minister told the gathering that the legislation was in final phase as the government desired to accomplish the process with consensus.
“This is not politics. This is need of the hour. This is the commitment made by Jinnah that needs to be fulfilled,” the prime minister remarked.
He said the expertise demonstrated by FATA youth at the festival, was evidence that they were in no way lesser than youths from other parts of the country.
He said the peace being enjoyed today in FATA was as a result of the sacrifices rendered by the people of the tribal belt, security forces, and the civil administration.
At one time, the elimination of terrorism from FATA looked an impossible task, but the government achieved the objective by bringing all stakeholders together to purge the area of the scourge of terrorism, he concluded.