Pakhtunkhawa Milli Awami Party Chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai called a moot on Fata reforms 30th of this month to discuss and debate the issues facing the over 15 million population of the region.He also demanded a committee comprising the Fata parliamentarians to oversee the development projects in the restive areas.He said that the people of the area should be taken onboard while taking the decision about the Fata reforms and other matters.He said no unilateral decision by the government about the fate and future of the area could be accepted.Achakzai condemned the notion that the Fata was inhabited by terrorists and criminals adding that the residents of all the seven agencies and the FR regions were patriots.Referring to the plans of merger of the Fata into Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa and other reforms, Achakzai said the people of the Fata should be taken onboard as any decision devoid of the will of the people of the area was bound to fail and add to the problems in the area instead of bringing any solace to the people who were facing the brunt of military operation against terrorists.He questioned that how the MPs body had completed the task of visiting seven agencies and six FR regions in just eight or nine days, and had read the mind of over 15 million people on the fate and future of the area.Achakzai said that his party would be organising a meeting of the intellectuals, notables, scholars and all other stakeholders from the area to take their point of view on the reforms so that they could give a blueprint to the government on the course of reformation in these restive areas, which were once quite peaceful.He also expressed his gratitude to the JUI-F Chief, Moulana Fazlur Rehman, for extending support to their cause and raising voice for the Fata people.Former ambassador Wazir said that they would not demand anything beyond the ambit of democracy and all what they wanted was to have the will and say of the people of the area in any future reforms agenda for the area.The people of FATA are deprived of civic rights as the citizens of an independent state since many decades. They are being governed under the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR). It is longstanding demand of the people of the FATA to abolish FCR but it is still in force. FATA citizens have been struggling for securing democratic rights since the decades. Successive governments have failed so far to resolve this issue. This created many problems for the country and the people of the area. The government should repeal the FCR and make tribal citizens a part of the mainstream. The reforms should be implemented after the consultation of all stake holders and particularly people of FATA should be taken on the board. All political parties should focus on the welfare of the people of the area and give priority to the interest of the country instead of advancing their vested interests.
