Daily Times

KHYBER AGENCY: The Jamaat-e-Islami FATA Chapter announced on Tuesday that it will be holding a march on the federal capital on 25th September.

The march will be held in protest of the still lingering FATA reforms which were meant to bring the north-western tribal areas under mainstream Pakistani governance. The march will be lead by the JI Senator, Sirajul Haq. The JI Ameer in FATA, Sardar Khan complained that the regions tribesmen have been deprived of legal, constitutional, political and fundamental rights by the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR). He said that besides the JI, the leaders and activists of other political parties would also take part in the march and they will be an important factor in putting pressure on the government to announce the implementation of the reforms soon. Khan said that the JI will also invite the leadership of the Awaami National Party (ANP) and the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP). He added that all of the country’s political parties had approved of the reforms and there was high approval in the country for bringing FATA under mainstream governance. The JI leader questioned the efficiency of the nation’s security forces for failing to stop the abduction of 17 members of the Shinwari tribe from Landi Kotal. He alleged that Pakistan’s successive governance had deliberately kept the tribal regions backwards and underdeveloped. Khan was accompanied by General Muhammad Rafiq Afridi, Shah Faisal and Muhammad Hassan among others.

Published in Daily Times, September 14^th 2017.