PESHAWAR: The lawyers from tribal areas have expressed reservations over amendments in Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) and demanded of the government to extend the jurisdiction of apex court to Fata.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Fata Lawyers Forum president Ijaz Mohmand said that FCR was amended during the previous government but the changes were not implemented so far.

Flanked by FLF general secretary Taj Mahal Afridi, joint secretary Farhad and others, he said that political agents still had absolute authority in Fata despite introduction of amendments to FCR.

Mr Mohmand alleged that political agents were playing with lives, honour and properties of tribal people as they enjoyed unlimited powers. Tribal people had no value in the prevailing situation as law and constitution had no importance in Fata, he added.

The masses, the FLF president said, were not given the right to raise voice for their rights and that was why the political administration was victimising them by exercising its unlawful powers.

Mr Mohmand said that government should have brought Fata under the parliament through the 18th Amendment. Fata parliamentarians also failed to raise voice for the rights of their people, he added.

He said that tribal people were awarded punishment in violation of the basic human rights owing to absence of an effective judicial system in Fata. He demanded of the government to extend regular law to Fata under Article 247 of the Constitution so that poor tribal people could live with peace.

Mr Mohmand said that the extension of jurisdiction of courts to Fata would end the bureaucratic hurdles that would also help in eradication of terrorism and mainstreaming the tribal society.

He said that change was impossible under the present bureaucratic system of federal government in Fata as it was creating hurdles in bringing tribal areas in the mainstream and mitigating problems of the militancy-affected tribal people.

“Fata needs proper attention and focus to end sense of deprivation among the tribal people,” Mr Mohmand said. He added that Fata was deliberately kept backward in all fields and successive governments failed to give rights and due status to tribal people.

The reforms introduced by the previous government in FCR didn’t bring any change in the fate of tribal people rather their problems were further complicated. “Change is impossible without extension of jurisdiction of superior courts to Fata,” he added. The leader of tribal lawyers said that they had great expectations from the incumbent government but its policies showed that government was not sincere to solve problems of tribal people.

The federal government, he said, was yet to formulate or announce a policy for the resolution of the problems being faced by the tribesmen. He added that Fata had never been a priority of the successive governments.

Mr Mohmand said if federal government wanted to bring any change in Fata then it should extend the jurisdiction of Supreme Court and Peshawar High Court to tribal areas.

He said that the administrative issues would be automatically resolved in Fata with the extension of courts’ jurisdiction to the area. He called for holding a referendum on creation of Fata council.

The FLF, Mr Mohmand said, would raise voice for solution of the issue at all forums. He asked the civil society organisations and media to extend support to legal fraternity in that regard.