Archaic laws: IDPs demand end to FCR

BANNU: Internally displaced persons (IDP) on Monday demanded an end to the set of 40 Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) rules, urging the government to merge the tribal areas with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Their protest started from Milad Park and culminated at Bannu Press Club. Speaking at a demonstration, Qaumi Watan Party local leader Altaf Wazir said the IDPs were living in misery. He said the government should abolish specific FCR laws for their betterment. Enshrined by the British prior to Partition, the FCR infringes on the rights of the tribespeople, by denying them equal treatment in matters relating to civil rights and freedom, available to the rest of the citizens of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2015.