KHAR: Leaders of various political and religious parties on Saturday complained the colonial system of governance and justice and denial of basic rights to

the people were the main hurdle to backwardness in Fata and elimination of corruption from there.

They pledged they would continue making every effort to help tribesmen secure their constitutional rights.

Political activists regret govts unwilling to enforce country’s law in tribal areas

The pledge was made during a public meeting organised by the All Bajaur Political Parties Alliance here, where the people from different walks of life, especially political and religious activists, were in attendance.

JI Fata chief Sahibzada Haroon Rasheed said if the government was serious about bringing Fata in the national mainstream, then it would abolish the Frontier Crimes Regulation and provide its people with all those constitutional rights, which were enjoyed by those living in other parts of the country.

He said ironically, the government had yet to take tangible steps for Fata reforms.

“The people of tribal areas have suffered from the FCR a lot so they’re unwilling to stand the colonial law any longer. Fata should be covered by the Constitution like other parts of the country,” he said.

All Bajaur Political Parties Alliance president Gul Afzal Khan claimed the Fata people wanted the complete abolition of the FCR and provision of all constitutional rights to their region.

He said the tribesmen were keen to see the centuries-old colonial system of governance and justice with the constitutional provision in their region for the protection of rights.

JUI leader Maulana Abdul Rasheed said the FCR and denial of constitutional rights were a major hurdle to the development of Fata.

He urged tribesmen to support political parties for bringing a positive change in tribal areas.

PPP president Aurangzeb Khan said the All Bajaur Political Parties Alliance had decided to speed up campaign to seek abolition of FCR and extension of constitutional provisions to Fata.

Other speakers, including PML-N’s Haji Rahat Yousaf, ANP’s Abdul Manan, PML-Q’s Haji Said Badshah, QWP’s Nawabzada Shahid and PTI’s Dr Khalilur Rehman, also linked the Fata development with the abolition of the centuries-old colonial system and provision of basic rights to local residents.

They complained on one hand, the state had declared Fata part of the country but on the other, the governments were unwilling to implement the country’s law there.

The speakers said they would go all-out to claim due constitutional rights for Fata.

They also demanded the immediate holding of local government elections in the region saying the establishment of local bodies is necessary to ensure provision of basic facilities to the people.

The speakers complained majority of the local houses damaged or destroyed in the Oct 26 earthquake were ignored in the administration’s recent damage assessment exercise.

They warned the quake victims would agitate if fresh yet fair damage assessment survey was not launched within a week.

Later, the participants took out a rally holding placards and banners with slogans against the administration.

The Khar-Munda Road remained closed for more than two hours during the protest.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2015