Pakistani senate endorses tribal region’s merger

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - The Senate on Friday endorsed a constitutional amendment on Thursday paving the way for the abolishment of a 19th-century British colonial law and bringing the country’s northwestern tribal belt into mainstream politics.

On Thursday, the amendment was passed by the lower house of the parliament -- the National Assembly.

Some 71 senators from the ruling and opposition parties voted in favor of the 31st constitutional amendment, which would now be sent to the president for final approval to become part of the country’s constitution.

Only five legislators belonging to the government’s two allies opposed the legislation, which calls for the merger of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal regions with northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province.

Following the latest constitutional amendment, over five million people of the tribal region will have representation in the KPK provincial assembly, and access to the high court and the supreme court in line with other Pakistani citizens for the first time since 1947 when the country gained its independence.

It will also provide a local government system to the tribal region for the first time, in addition to a yearly 100 billion rupees (nearly $10 million) additional grant for next 10 years.

Also, the current eight seats allocated for the tribal region in the Senate will remain intact for the next five years.

The tribal regions commonly known as “agencies” -- North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Bajaur agency, Kurram agency, Orakzai agency, Mohmand agency, and Khyber agency -- are currently governed under the 19th century British era law called the FATA Crimes Regulations (FCR).

According to the system currently in place, if a person is found guilty of any crime, his whole tribe gets subjected to collective punishment.

Similarly, if a bomb blast takes place in front of a house in FATA, the entire male members of the family are held responsible for the crime on the pretext that they had failed to stop the perpetrators.