KHYBER: Tribesmen from different walks of life have rejected the provincial government’s decision about the appointment of deputy commissioners to the tribal districts as justices of peace declaring it continuation of the infamous Frontier Crimes Regulation.

They demanded an immediate withdrawal of the March 14 home department notification for the purpose.

Malik Bismillah Khan,thefounder of the Khyber Qaumi Jirga, an organisation against theFata-KP merger, told Dawn that ad hoc measures couldn’t resolve the problems and grievances of the people in tribal districts.

“The government is making experiments in the erstwhile Fata by first promulgating the Interim Government Regulations, implementing the Riwaj system and forming dispute resolution councils and now issuing notification for declaring DCs the justices of peace,” he said.

Call for revival of jirga system

The tribesman said the government was not aware of the actual demands and needs of the local residents nor was it listening to their suggestions.

He said the solution to all issues faced by tribesmen lied in the revival of the time-tested and historic jirga system along with revival of the erstwhile Fata.

“Making DCs justices of peace will not help in the long run and will rather end up nowhere without bearing fruit,” he said.

Zar Noor Afridi, astaunch supporter of the merger of tribal areas with KPand a political activist, argued that the appointment of DCs as justices of peace was a clear deviation from the original merger plan as the residents had never asked for such an arrangement.

“We considered a transparent merger to be an extension and prompt implementation of all regular laws to the tribal districts and not reversion to the oppressive system, which usurped the constitutional rights of the people,” he said.

The activist accused the pro-FCR bureaucracy of conspiring against the Fata-KP merger and creating unnecessary hurdles to its speedy implementation.

He demanded an immediate reversal of the official notification for the withdrawal of new powers given to DCs in the region and said action should be taken against the government officials conspiring to foil the merger of tribal areas with KP.

Newly-elected councillorZiaul Haq told Dawn that the notification of the DCs’ appointment as justices of peace was an informal form of the notorious FCR.

He said such powers weren’t given to the DCs working in districts other than tribal ones.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2022