It will extend the writ of Pakistani courts to its districts, and increase development assistance to residents of the region which Washington has long insisted provides safe havens to militants including the Taliban and Al Qaeda -- an allegation that Islamabad denies. Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi who played a key role in bringing consensus to pass the amendment said in his address to the lawmakers that it was joint effort by all parties, which will "change the 150-year-old system in the tribal areas." Rights groups have long argued that residents of FATA to have the same laws as the rest of Pakistan, pointing out that the use of collective punishment and other colonial-era laws against local people tramples basic rights. ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's parliament on Thursday passed legislation to merge the country's tribal regions along the Afghan border with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a key step to ending the region's much-criticised colonial era governance system. The system was largely obliterated by militants who overran the areas during the allied invasion of Afghanistan, forcing out political agents and killing over 100 maliks. It consists of seven districts — Bajaur, Khyber, Kurram, Mohmand, North Waziristan, Orakzai and South Waziristan — which stretch along the border with Afghanistan, and became known in the world due to presence of militants who fled the porous border after US forces invaded Afghanistan post-9/11.
The National Assembly of Pakistan votes a constitutional amendment merging the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. This will abolish colonial-era rules and provide the five million people from the tribal areas with equal rights as the other people of Pakistan. The measure is expected to pass the next stages without fuss.