PESHAWAR: The tribal youth at a workshop here on Monday suggested that Federally Administered Tribal Areas should be awarded the status of a separate province to bring economic prosperity in the region.

The consultative workshop entitled ‘Voices of Fata youth in Fata governance’ was jointly organised by Fata Governance and Development Institute of University of Peshawar (UoP) and Fata Secretariat.

A number of youth from Orakzai, Mohmand, Kurram, Bajaur, Khyber, South and North Waziristan agencies took attended the workshop. Mohammad Zahoor, coordinator of implementation support unit of Post Crisis Needs Assessment working in Fata, said that consultation was being held to know the opinion of tribal people about the future governance system in Fata during the next 10 years or so.

The tribal students were asked to opine about awarding status of a separate province for Fata, its merger into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or continuation and improvement in its prevailing system of governance.

The series of consultation held with different segments of tribal society would be presented as a set of proposals to the policymakers.

The tribal youth, who were divided into groups to come up with their suggestions, gave articulate presentations. Most of the youth proposed that Fata should be given status of a separate province so that it could have legal, administrative and financial autonomy like other provinces of the country.

“We will have fundamental human rights as enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan. We will have basic facilities like health, education and access to justice system,” said Sadiq Zama, hailing from Bajaur. He said that those basic human rights were still not enjoyed by the people of tribal areas.

Azeem Khan, another youth from Mohmand Agency, said that awarding the status of province to Fata would end dictatorial rule of the political administration. There would be police and courts and no one would be victimised under the colonial-era Frontier Crimes Regulation, he added.

Zara Zaman, a young girl from Khyber Agency, however, suggested that Fata should be merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “It is still separate from the province. Once it is merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the system of governance will be extended to Fata. Now there is nothing, no justice,” said the young girl, who felt that girls would have more and better access to education.

Sabihullah, hailing from Kurram Agency, also suggested that reforms should be introduced in Fata. He said that effective agency councils would empower tribal people at grassroots level. “Making a separate province is a very big change and it won’t happen soon,” he said.

Fahimullah Khan Dawar, a resident of North Waziristan, was of the view that Fata qualified for becoming a separate province as it was rich in mineral as well as human resource. “It should be a separate province. We will ensure security of the border and no one will call us terrorists anymore,” he added.

Mohammad Riaz and his group members also reached a consensus to make Fata a separate province as it would give them all rights like any other Pakistani citizen.

The youth not only took part in a two-hour group discussion but also debated why they supported status of a separate province for Fata.

UoP Vice-chancellor Dr Mohammad Rasul Jan, who was chief guest on the occasion, opened the discussion. He said that it was a fact and there was ample historic evidence that majority of the people of Fata were patriotic Pakistanis and they craved for prosperity of their region through development.

He said that tribal people suffered unprecedented losses in the war against terrorism. He added that it was high time to give peace a chance to attain economic and social prosperity for the sake of coming generations of Fata.

Yousaf Rahim, the director general projects of Fata Secretariat, and Dr Hussain Shaheed Soherwordi of UoP internal relations department also spoke on the occasion.