FAZAL SHER

ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Chief Sirajul Haq has warned the government that his party would stage a long sit-in in the federal capital if the government fails to ensure the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before December 31.

He said this while addressing the participants of a long march held against the delay in merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa here at China Chowk.

“If the government fails to approve FATA reforms bill till December 31, my party workers would move towards Islamabad along with tents and remain there till the fulfillment of our demands,” the JI chief said.

The long march led by JI and joined by a number of residents of FATA started from Peshawar’s Bab-e-Khyber on December 11 aimed to exert pressure on the federal government to revoke the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) as well as merge of the tribal areas with KP before the next general election.

Haq said that the main objective of the long march is the abolition of Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) as this is the demand of the residents of FATA. “Due to the presence of the FCR, no basic rights are ensured for the people of the tribal areas,” he said, adding now the people of tribal areas have stood up and raised their voice against injustice.

The JI chief asked all political parties to support the people of tribal areas. “We want the oppression and injustice to end,” he demanded. The present government is not serious in resolving problems being faced by the residents of FATA and they have been left at the mercy of political administration, he claimed.

Haq said that the government wants to divide the residents of FATA. “We want the law which prevails in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Balochistan and Lahore should also be enforced in FATA,” he said.

The Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Shah addressing the long march participants said that in spite of the political consensus against the FCR, the government has been showing delaying tactics to annul the draconian law.

He said that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is fully supporting the demand of merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “We will ensure the merger of FATA with KP before 2018,” the opposition leader declared.

Earlier, the workers of JI gathered at Faizabad Interchange after camping near Rawalpindi’s Murree Road on Monday night. The participants were holding placards and banners inscribed with anti-FCR slogans. Heavy contingents of police were deployed on the occasion to avert any unpleasant incident.