Islamabad, Dec. 8 (TNS): Minister of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Abdul Qadir Baloch hinted that harsh Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to be revoked within a week.
“The FCR is a black law. It is necessary to rid ourselves of it,” said Baloch while addressing a press conference alongside FATA Reforms Committee head Sartaj Aziz, further stressing that the law would be abolished within a week’s time.
Baloch said that the government is planning to revoke FCR by next week.
Baloch announced that the KP governor will send President Mamnoon Hussain a summary to abolish the FCR soon, however, there was no confirmed date for the KP-Fata merger in the future.
“Work is underway to bring FATA into the ‘mainstream’”, said Sartaj Aziz adding that the Supreme Court would extend the high court’s jurisdiction to Fata.
“Due to a lack of quorum in the Lower House today, the bill related to this development could not be passed”, he added.
Sartaj Aziz further said that a Rs 1,000 billion Fata development fund will be created and that many schemes are in the pipeline to help bring FATA into the economic mainstream. The government will be contacted to bring FATA into the mainstream administratively, and Levies forces will be deployed there in order to bring it into the security mainstream.
“Once FATA is brought parallel to the legal, administrative, economic and security fronts of the other provinces, it will be merged with KP”, he said.
He apprised the media that a monthly briefing will be given on the FATA reforms.
