Revoking fcr: Bajaur leaders announce long march

Tribesmen demanded that amendments should be given practical shape and political activities should be started.

KHAR: All political parties have threatened to stage a long march to Islamabad against the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), terming it a draconian law. It was announced in a jirga held at Bajaur Agency of the volatile tribal belt which was attended by local leaders and activists of almost all political parties. Speakers on the occasion said that the FCR had been amended by the President Asif Ali Zardari last year but even then, holding political activities in Fata, was a farfetched goal for the tribesmen adding that the law was still active and the tribesmen had yet to get rid of the political administration. The tribesmen demanded that the amendments should immediately be given practical shape and political activities should be started, terming it the only way out of the current crisis. Speakers said authorities wanted to abolish FCR but local maliks (tribal chiefs) opposed the move and supported the political administration since once it is abolished, the perks and privileges the maliks are offered with will end.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2012.