PESHAWAR, Dec 10: The tribal lifestyle was based on rigid customs and traditions and provides little room for drastic changes in the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) and whenever such attempts were made , tribal elders warned the government of grave consequences, said Governor Iftikhar Husain Shah while responding to remarks made by speakers about massive human rights violation in Fata.

Speaking at an event organized in connection with the International Human Rights Day by the Regional Directorate of Human Rights in collaboration with the University of Peshawar, the governor took serious notice of remarks made by some speakers about the involvement of the political administration in violation of basic human rights under the FCR, and said that from time to time the government had attempted to introduce the police and court system in the tribal belt of Pakistan.

He claimed that whenever such attempts were made tribal elders stopped them, arguing that a jirga system had been functing for a long time and decided all matters and therefore the system of the settled areas was not acceptable to the people in Fata.

The governor said that the government was planning to make some soft changes in the FCR to make it acceptable. SPARC deputy coordinator Arshad Mahmood said that under the FCR, the political administration was playing havoc with the lives of poor people and no one amongst the high authorities was taking notice of it.

He said that the people of Fata were looking to the government for freeing them from the clutches of the black law, FCR. By introducing a proper judicial system their dream could come true, he added.

Mr Mahmood cited some examples of human rights violation which could be unbelievable for the West. In Haripur Jail a two-year-old, Zarmina, and her three-year-old brother, Khalil, had been imprisoned for the reason best know to the government, the human rights activist added.

The SPARC official said that under the FCR 49 children below the age of 10 had been in different jails of the province. Vice Chancellor of the University of Peshawar Mumtaz Gul said that Islam is a way of life which embraces peace, equality, tolerance and respect for human dignity.

A true Islamic culture would encompass all human rights and ensure that people could live free with dignity. The vice-chancellor said that courses for master degree in human rights had been approved and soon the department would be established.

He said that the new department of gender studies had also been established and had started functioning. Earlier, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences Prof Ahmad Ali highlighted the aims and objectives and activities of Human Rights Studies Centre.

He said that the centre was Pakistan's first and only human rights educational and research institution at a university. He said one of the primary objectives of the centre was to give basic human rights training to key decision and policy makers.

He informed the participants that the centre had inducted postgraduate diploma and certificate courses in international human rights law, women law and international refugee and humanitarian law.