Protest rally: Tribesmen call for FATA’s merger

Threaten to launch mass movement against the government

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A protest rally was staged here on Wednesday under the banner of the Fata Siyasi Ittehad, urging the authorities concerned to abolish the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) and merge the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The rally began from the Tank Adda Bazaar, heading towards the Topanwalla Chowk.

Protesters were holding banners and chanting slogans ‘Go FCR, Go’ and ‘Merge Fata with K-P’.

“FCR is a black law dating back to the colonial era … It is inhuman and tribesmen have consistently been rejecting it. Tribesmen no longer want to live under its tyranny,” said PTI’s Nasirullah Khan Wazir from South Waziristan Agency.

“Tribesmen are now aware and have launched a movement against FCR,” Wazir said.

Hayat Mehsud, a social activist, said: “Today, we are burying FCR and this is manifested by the large number of people attending the rally … From today onwards, no worldly power can impose FCR upon us.”

“We want the government to abolish FCR and merge Fata with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” he said.

The protest rally disrupted the traffic flow on the Circular Road, creating public nuisance.

The Fata Siyasi Ittehad is an alliance of political parties campaigning against the FCR and calling for merging Fata with K-P, besides pressing the government to immediately implement Fata Reforms. Two other political parties, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) and Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) oppose the Ittehad’s stance.

After differences emerged among political parties over Fata reforms, the implementation on the report compiled by the PM’s Fata Reforms Committee, an essential part of the National Action Plan, has been delayed.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2017.