January 8, 2002	Tuesday	Shawwal 23, 1422

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HANGU, Jan 7: A tribal leader has opposed the extension of local bodies system to the tribal areas but said that amendments to the Frontier Crimes Regulation have become imperative to bring it up to date and according to the needs of the present times.

Haji Khan Afzal Orakzai, vice-president of Tehrik-i-Ittehad-i-Qabail, told journalists that tribal people wanted to live their lives according to their own customs and traditions. He said any deviation from the Jirga system could lead to complications.

He said extension of the local bodies system to the tribal areas could neither be regarded as a positive step towards ameliorating the lot of the tribal people nor was it attuned to their way of life. He said only those who were not familiar with the tribal traditions were supporting the proposed reforms.

He said the new system would paralyse the whole tribal system already functioning in the tribal areas.

Haji Khan Afzal, who is also the president of Tehrik-i-Ittehad-i-Qabail, Orakzai Agency, said that some people for their own petty political gains wanted to cause political anarchy in the tribal areas.

He said the FCR needed to be amended in accordance with the needs of the present times and Jirga system needed to be further strengthened.

He called upon the provincial governor to convene a Jirga of tribal elders to discuss the issue threadbare and reach an amicable conclusion.