Daily Times

LAHORE: The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and the Awami National Party (ANP) have put aside their ideological and political differences for early implementation of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) reforms. In this connection, ANP General Secretary Ahsan Wayne Wednesday participated in a seminar on ‘FATA’s Issues’ organised by the JI at Mansoora and pledged to support the JI in its struggle for the rights of tribesmen. He assured the JI of his party’s participation in the movement likely to be launched by the former for the FATA’s merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, abolition of Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) and due share of FATA in the multi-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. Ejaz Chaudhry of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Mian Munir Ahmed of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) also participated in the seminar and showed solidarity with the JI for early implementation of the FATA reforms JI Secretary General Liaqat Baloch presided over the seminar and announced to start a movement seeking abolition of FCR by holding seminars in different cities. He announced to hold an all parties conference (APC) in Islamabad to get consensus over the issue. Some JI leaders from FATA also joined the seminar and shared their views with the participants. In the seminar, a declaration was passed, stating that the FCR was imposed by the British Raj to snub and depoliticise the local resistance against its rule in 1901.

Published in Daily Times, July 20^th , 2017.