Speakers at a seminar on 'FATA Reforms: Present and Future Challenges' called for more amendments to Frontier Crime Regulation (FCR) by taking tribal people on board. They said the reforms were insufficient for bringing improvement in the lives of tribal people. Peace and security were still one of the biggest issues in Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA).
The seminar was organised under the auspices of Department of Journalism & Mass Communication, University of Peshawar, here on Wednesday. Dr Altafullah, Dr Muhammad Qayyum, Professor Dr Shahjehan Syed, Rustam Shah Mohmand, Former Ambassador to Afghanistan, President Peshawar Press Club, Saif-ul-Islam Saifi, Ayaz Wazir and others were among the speakers. A large number of representatives of different print and electronic media, students and faculty members attended the seminar.
They said that any reform in FCR without consultations of tribal people would prove meaningless. They called for proper representation of tribesmen in all kinds of regulations and reforms. Rustum Shah Mohmand said the amendments to certain clauses of FCR were fruitless to bring lasting peace and stability in the tribal region.
He added the people of settled areas were also facing injustice despite exiting human right laws and regulations. Another speaker, Ayaz Wazir said that the FCR was mother of all ills in tribal areas. The amendments to FCR were not solution of problems of tribal areas. There was a need to repeal the law completely.