KHAR, Aug 27: Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Bajaur Agency, on Tuesday urged the government to implement reforms in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and immediately extend constitutional rights to the tribal areas, saying that lack of basic civil rights was the main cause of backwardness of the area.

Speaking at a press conference here, local PkMAP leaders, including its president Asghar Khan, Lehaz Gul and Azam Khan, expressed concern over delay in implementation of reforms in the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).

Mr Asghar said that the government had turned the Fata reforms into a joke as no visible change was seen in the tribal areas since the reforms were announced.

It seemed the government is not interested in bringing positive changes in the area, he said.

He said that besides swift implementation of reforms in Fata the government should take additional steps for change in tribal system because the reforms alone were insufficient to solve problems of tribesmen.

They said that PkMAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai would soon present a resolution in the National Assembly for awarding the Fata a status of a separate province.

The PkMAP activists urged the government to extend fundamental rights to the tribal areas and said that provision of basic constitutional rights was vital to the development of Fata.

They said that the jurisdiction of Supreme Court and high court should be extended to the Fata and the tribal areas be regulated under the 1973 Constitution rather than the FCR.