PESHAWAR:
To prevent the government from “imposing its will” on Fata, a representative jirga comprising all tribal jirgas will decide the future of the tribal people, said chief of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
The federally administered tribal area’s (Fata) new status should be sanctioned by tribes who live there, and the new representative body, known as the ‘Nomainda Jirga’ should be consulted by the presidency and parliament before any legislation or resolutions affecting the tribal areas is passed, said Rehman while talking to reporters in the Hayatabad area of Peshawar. The new jirga will represent the various sub-jirgas of belonging to each Fata tribe.
The JUI-F chief has repeatedly stated that tribal leaders of Fata should be allowed a say while deciding whether the area should be subsumed in the Khyber-Pakthtunkhwa administration or not. At a meeting held on November 19, he pressed for a ‘consultative’ approach in deciding Fata’s status, and said that the military operation and drone strikes should be stopped. Maulana Fazl said that Fata leaders still stand for the demands made in the November 19 meeting.
“The government has only tried to appease the US and its supporters and is not serious about resolving key national issues to thwart people’s miseries – particularly in the tribal region,” he said.
‘Difficult time’
Rehman said that the country was passing through a turbulent time in its history, adding that law and order, unemployment and other issues were unresolved since the last four and a half years.
The country is under ‘undeclared” martial law, and military officials are seen to decide the tribal people’s fate, said Rehman. The government and military leadership must vest confidence in jirgas, so that the tribal people may decide for themselves.
Condemning the terrorists’ attack of PAF base, he said that the incident occurred due to the “wrong policies of current rulers.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2012.
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All Jirga systems immediately needs to finished, Pakistan should have one law applicable every where. This stone age n medieval system should be seized to exits.