Orakzai tribesmen want FCR abolished

Reforms committee members meet elders

HANGU: The residents of Orakzai Agency on Monday asked the committee set up for bringing reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) to abolish the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).The demand was made in a consultative jirga with the members of the committee set up for bringing reforms in Fata.

The five-member committee including the Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Minister of State and Frontier Regions (Safron) Abdul Qadir Baloch, the National Security Advisor to Prime Minister, Nasir Khan Janjua, and Federal Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hanmid Khan held consultation with the tribal elders, politicians, traders, journalists and representatives of other organisations at the Orakzai Agency Headquarters here.

Political Agent Muhammad Zubair Khan, Senator Aurangzeb Orakzai, Member National Assembly Ghazi Gulab Jamal and civil and military officials also attended the jirga.The tribal elders said that the FCR was contradictory to the Constitution. They urged the government to repeal it to provide relief to the tribespeople and lessen their hardships.

They suggested the reforms committee to play its role for reopening of the Upper Orakzai Agency bazaar, which they said was closed for the last eight years to revive business activities in the agency.

They also demanded the return of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their native areas and then start the consultation sessions.Sartaj Aziz said that the committee visited most of the agencies and found out that the tribespeople wanted reforms Fata.He said that law and order was improving in Fata and other urban areas as a result of the ongoing military offensive Zarb-e-Azb.

Sartaj Aziz said the reforms committee was different from the ones set up in the past as it would complete its work. He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was determined to bring in reforms in Fata.

He said the successive governments ignored Fata in the uplift work but the incumbents were was working on various development projects and would bring the tribal areas on a par with other areas of the country.

Sartaj Aziz said the government would take care of the needs of the tribespeople if it decided to merge Fata into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra said that the committee was holding consultative sessions with tribespeople from all walks of life to get their input.He said that all the IDPs of upper parts of Orakzai Agency would be sent home in the second phase of the repatriation process.