Protesters demand Fata merger with K-P

Hundreds of political activists, students stage sit-in outside the Governor House

PESHAWAR: Demanding immediate merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), hundreds of students and political activists on Wednesday staged a daylong protest sit-in outside the Governor House.

The protestors, representing different political parties, were holding black flags and banners inscribed with slogans against the draconian Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) and in favour of implementation of Fata reforms package. They started their procession from Qayyum Stadium and later staged a sit-in outside the Governor Houses.'



They called on the federal government to extend jurisdiction of the superior courts to the tribal areas and completely repeal the notorious FCR. They also criticised the government for running affairs of Fata through the oppressive British-era laws.

Due to the protest, traffic on one of the main arteries of the city, Sher Shah Suri Road, remained suspended causing great inconvenience to commuters who had to be diverted to alternate routes.

During the protest, student leaders including Shaukat Aziz and Bilawal Afridi were taken inside the Governor House for a dialogue with government officials but no breakthrough was achieved. After failure of the talks, a heavy contingent of riot police was called in at the protest site.

“They are not ready even to consider us humans,” said Afridi after holding negotiations. “They told us that you people have no rights to demand and decide the future of Fata.”



Afridi said “today it is the youth that has come out to challenge the FCR” which the tribal people had been enduring for the last 70 years despite the fact that it were the tribals who fought against the colonial powers and rejected them.

Addressing on the occasion, ANP general secretary Mian Iftikhar Husain said: “These tribal people have been looted for years. When the federal and all provincial governments have agreed to merge Fata with K-P, then who is creating hurdles? This hypocrisy must be stopped now.”

He said before merger of Fata, the rights of its people must be properly specified, like the share in the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, seats in the K-P assembly and share in ministries.

"Today they have to decide the future of tribal area," said Asad Ali, a leader of Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) while addressing the protestors. He said militancy and extremism in the tribal region could come to an end only by mainstreaming of Fata and giving tribal people their rights.

The QWP leader also asked the government to stop military operations in the tribal areas and treat people with justice under the laws of the country instead of using the FCR that had “deprived them of all their rights”.

Fata Lawyers Forum President Ijaz Afridi rejected the Rewaj Act and demanded amendment to the Article 01 and Article 247 of the Constitution under which “the people of Fata have no basic rights and no access to higher courts of the country”.

“The Rawaj Act has no mention of any of these articles. Its purpose is to abolish the student movements against FCR,” he said, adding that from the next month they would move towards Islamabad and stage a hunger strike outside the Parliament House.