Opinion Poll | Tribal areas should be made into a new province.

[FaujHistorian]

what benefit do you think are there for a separate province?

local control
and thus local responsibility.

 

[fatman17]

to be part of KPK. abolish the current admin system of political agent and create districts just like everywhere in PK. hold national, provincial & local body elections. abolish the jirga system. bring it up to par with rest of PK. why discriminate.

 

[Armstrong]

Too early to declare them Province but they can be part of KPK as 2 cities which would be much better managed.

Both FATA & KPK should be absorbed into Punjab with me as the Chief Minister !

to be part of KPK. abolish the current admin system of political agent and create districts just like everywhere in PK. hold national, provincial & local body elections. abolish the jirga system. bring it up to par with rest of PK. why discriminate.

Maybe because thats what they - the People of FATA - want !

They joined Pakistan, after all, under certain conditions one of which was that their way of live, including their system of Governance, would not be disturbed !

 

[Marwat Khan Lodhi]

Govt asked to abolish FCR, give Fata provincial status - thenews.com.pk

Both FATA & KPK should be absorbed into Punjab with me as the Chief Minister !



Maybe because thats what they - the People of FATA - want !

They joined Pakistan, after all, under certain conditions one of which was that their way of live, including their system of Governance, would not be disturbed !

By ways of life, they meant pashtunwali , not FCR.

 

[Kompromat]

to be part of KPK. abolish the current admin system of political agent and create districts just like everywhere in PK. hold national, provincial & local body elections. abolish the jirga system. bring it up to par with rest of PK. why discriminate.

How about a separate province made up for all tribal agencies?

Bureau report Monday, November 11, 2013
From Print Edition


PESHAWAR: The All Fata Syasi Ittehad Committee has asked the government to abolish the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) and raise the status of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) to a province before the local government elections. A meeting of the committee comprising leaders from various political parties was held at the Peshawar Press Club on Sunday.ANP’s Abdul Latif Afridi, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F)’s Syed Kabir and Maulana Abdur Rashid, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI)’s Zar Noor Afridi, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s Muhammad Daud, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP)’s Zahir Shah Safi and Akhunzada Chattan and Jangrez Khan of the PPP attended the meeting.

Govt asked to abolish FCR, give Fata provincial status - thenews.com.pk

 

[Kompromat]

Tribal youth want provincial status for Fata
By Bureau Report
Updated Apr 01, 2014 08:29am
Comment
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PESHAWAR: The tribal youth at a workshop here on Monday suggested that Federally Administered Tribal Areas should be awarded the status of a separate province to bring economic prosperity in the region.

The consultative workshop entitled ‘Voices of Fata youth in Fata governance’ was jointly organised by Fata Governance and Development Institute of University of Peshawar (UoP) and Fata Secretariat.

A number of youth from Orakzai, Mohmand, Kurram, Bajaur, Khyber, South and North Waziristan agencies took attended the workshop. Mohammad Zahoor, coordinator of implementation support unit of Post Crisis Needs Assessment working in Fata, said that consultation was being held to know the opinion of tribal people about the future governance system in Fata during the next 10 years or so.

The tribal students were asked to opine about awarding status of a separate province for Fata, its merger into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or continuation and improvement in its prevailing system of governance.

The series of consultation held with different segments of tribal society would be presented as a set of proposals to the policymakers.

The tribal youth, who were divided into groups to come up with their suggestions, gave articulate presentations. Most of the youth proposed that Fata should be given status of a separate province so that it could have legal, administrative and financial autonomy like other provinces of the country.

“We will have fundamental human rights as enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan. We will have basic facilities like health, education and access to justice system,” said Sadiq Zama, hailing from Bajaur. He said that those basic human rights were still not enjoyed by the people of tribal areas.

Azeem Khan, another youth from Mohmand Agency, said that awarding the status of province to Fata would end dictatorial rule of the political administration. There would be police and courts and no one would be victimised under the colonial-era Frontier Crimes Regulation, he added.

Zara Zaman, a young girl from Khyber Agency, however, suggested that Fata should be merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “It is still separate from the province. Once it is merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the system of governance will be extended to Fata. Now there is nothing, no justice,” said the young girl, who felt that girls would have more and better access to education.

Sabihullah, hailing from Kurram Agency, also suggested that reforms should be introduced in Fata. He said that effective agency councils would empower tribal people at grassroots level. “Making a separate province is a very big change and it won’t happen soon,” he said.

Fahimullah Khan Dawar, a resident of North Waziristan, was of the view that Fata qualified for becoming a separate province as it was rich in mineral as well as human resource. “It should be a separate province. We will ensure security of the border and no one will call us terrorists anymore,” he added.

Mohammad Riaz and his group members also reached a consensus to make Fata a separate province as it would give them all rights like any other Pakistani citizen.

The youth not only took part in a two-hour group discussion but also debated why they supported status of a separate province for Fata.

UoP Vice-chancellor Dr Mohammad Rasul Jan, who was chief guest on the occasion, opened the discussion. He said that it was a fact and there was ample historic evidence that majority of the people of Fata were patriotic Pakistanis and they craved for prosperity of their region through development.

He said that tribal people suffered unprecedented losses in the war against terrorism. He added that it was high time to give peace a chance to attain economic and social prosperity for the sake of coming generations of Fata.

Yousaf Rahim, the director general projects of Fata Secretariat, and Dr Hussain Shaheed Soherwordi of UoP internal relations department also spoke on the occasion.

Tribal youth want provincial status for Fata - Newspaper - DAWN.COM

 

[Irfan Baloch]

making the FATA and PATA into new province/ provinces will bring the people in the national fold. they will still hold their identity, their values and culture but will enjoy the full support of the state (for all its worth in its current form).

the biggest benefit will be the elimination of any abuse and persecution from drug lords and warlords of the area. the people of settled area are no less Muslims or traditional so that argument wont cut it.
the biggest and quickest benefit is economical and security.

the social benefits will be yielded over decades

 

[RabzonKhan]

Hello, respected ladies and gents.

I just wanted to know opinions about this topic.

Should Pakistan allow the tribal agencies like FATA, WANA and others to become a full fledged province to have better civil services, law and order and to avoid it becoming yet again the bastion of Fasadi Kharijis?

The benefits are obvious - however i would love to hear from our members at PDF, especially the Pashtun members on PDF. What pros and cons would be taken into account, why and why not?

Please participate in an open and civil debate.

@ghilzai @Hyperion @farhan_9909 @TaimiKhan @RescueRanger @Pak-one @Spring Onion. (Please tag other Pashtun members too)

Best | Aeronaut

First of all, FATA and WANA are not tribal agencies, Fata is an acronym for “Federally Administered Tribal Areas”, which comprise seven tribal (Mohmand, Orakzai, Khyber, Kurram, Bajaur, North Waziristan and South Waziristan) agencies and six frontier regions, and WANA is the largest city of South Waziristan.

As for the question should FATA become a full-fledged province, to integrate them into the mainstream and to end their sense of deprivation, yes FATA should be given provincial status.

In 2009 FATA Grand Alliance was founded, its members come from all walks of life, the chairman was Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi MNA Khyber Agency. They want FATA to be given provincial status and be named Qabailistan. I was in Pakistan at that time and I still remember they used to have heated TV debates with ANP members who wanted FATA to be merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In 2012 Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) had tabled a resolution in the National Assembly's secretariat demanding the formation of four new provinces, one of the proposed provinces was FATA.

Now since PML-N has the government in the center, it should work with the FATA Grand Alliance and other political parties to seriously move forward and resolve this important issue in the best interest of the people of FATA and the country.

 

[Gazi]

I believe FATA as a new Province wont be a good idea. FATA already has too much Relations with Afghanistan so its Better to Merge them with KPK rather which could bring them closer to Peshawar and Islamabad rather then Moving them towards Afghanistan. Their Economic Dependence of Trade with Afghanistan is the Biggest Hurdle and if FATA is made a separate Province this Hurdle would become Bad situation because their Access to Afghanistan's Tora Bora and other Disturbed areas in Pak Afghan Border would create a bad situation so it would be Better to Include them with KPK so that they could be Dragged away from Afghanistan and brought to Peshawar and Islamabad.

 

[VCheng]

making the FATA and PATA into new province/ provinces will bring the people in the national fold. they will still hold their identity, their values and culture but will enjoy the full support of the state (for all its worth in its current form).

the biggest benefit will be the elimination of any abuse and persecution from drug lords and warlords of the area. the people of settled area are no less Muslims or traditional so that argument wont cut it.
the biggest and quickest benefit is economical and security.

the social benefits will be yielded over decades

Does this mean granting universal suffrage to all the adults of those areas? Will the existing structure allow this to happen?

 

[Irfan Baloch]

Does this mean granting universal suffrage to all the adults of those areas? Will the existing structure allow this to happen?

yes...and maybe
but legislation will be needed.you know we already have a token representation from tribal Maliks in the assembly. they are not totally alien to the concept.
they must lead the way in this regard.

 

[VCheng]

yes...and maybe
but legislation will be needed.you know we already have a token representation from tribal Maliks in the assembly. they are not totally alien to the concept.
they must lead the way in this regard.

That was exactly my point. Trying to impose PPC in FATA and granting all requisites of citizenship to the population will be problematic without getting the tribal sardars on board.

 

[Khafee]

to be part of KPK. abolish the current admin system of political agent and create districts just like everywhere in PK. hold national, provincial & local body elections. abolish the jirga system. bring it up to par with rest of PK. why discriminate.

I personally don't think it's discrimination, but lack of political will i.e. "why rock the boat" mentality. This mentality usually yields nothing +ve.

 

[truthseer]

and use the minerals of that area

This is precisely why the Balochis don't trust the rest of the country. Let's think of the minerals well after integrating them in, or else they'll just see it as exploiting their land. I don't doubt you have good intentions, but we can wait for minerals.

So, as far as I am concerned, rough and ready justice is better than justice delivered after half a century and two generations have gone by.

Justice system won't improve without time. All countries have to go through initial corruption problems. Sooner or later, the institutions themselves improve

 

[Pan-Islamic-Pakistan]

Disagree. FATA should be merged fully into KPK and provided all modern conveniences and government structures which KPK enjoys. The most focus should be on improving education and medical care.