Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON), while discussing FATA Reforms on Thursday, unanimously rejected the Riwaj Act and decided to send it back to the Law Ministry.

“Riwaj Act is tantamount to imposing yet another FCR on tribal people,” Maulana Jamaluddin, the chairman of the committee said during the meeting.

According to earlier report by FATA Reforms Committee, the Riwaj Act would pave the way for a tribunal of judges, or jirga, elected by local people for disputes resolution, while the jurisdiction of Supreme Court of Pakistan and Peshawar High Court would also extend to the area.

It is feared that the act will be misused amid possibility of violation of basic human rights.

MNA Tariqullah, a member of the committee, said that FATA people would plunge into yet another quagmire if Riwaj Act was implemented in its current form.

Further, the committee was told that a feasibility report to construct Naqeeb Shaheed College in South Waziristan had been finalised following Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s commitment with the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement leaders.

Officials of the FATA Secretariat told the meeting that 12.5 acres of land had been identified to build the college in South Waziristan, saying that feasibility report was dispatched to the prime minister.

“Construction work on the college will be started instantly after approval by the prime minister,” officials of the FATA Secretariat said.

The meeting discussed at length recruitment of levies, a local force in FATA, while debating on the FATA Reforms. However, officials of the Ministry of SAFRON told the committee that modalities are being worked out for recruitment in the levies’ force.

But the chairman of the committee said time was running out and efforts should be expedited.

Jamaluddin said that a committee should be formed under the chair of Ghalib Khan Wazir, state minister for SAFRON, to compile a proposal and present before the committee within 15 days in that regard.

The State Minister for SAFRON said he would present the proposal after evaluating the police force’s facilities and infrastructure.

However, Jamaluddin said that officials from FATA Secretariat and Ministry of SAFRON should be included to prepare the proposal.

The committee also took notice of sacking of FATA Education Foundation’s employees. Jamaluddin questioned asked the officials why employees of FATA Education Foundation had not been restored, despite Peshawar High Court (PHC) verdict in their favour. The officials said the matter was still under consideration of the FATA Secretariat.

However, the committee directed that the employees should be restored on their positions in light of the PHC decision.

Published in Daily Times, March 31^st 2018.