JI launches ‘long march’ on Islamabad

PESHAWAR: The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Sunday launched its planned ‘long march’ from Khyber Agency to Islamabad in a bid to force the government to merge the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The ‘long march’ began from the Bab-e-Khyber monument in Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency.

A protest sit-in was also held on the Ring Road near Jamil Chowk in Peshawar where JI provincial head Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, the party’s Member National Assembly (MNA) Sahibzada Tariqullah and tribal MNA Shahjee Gul Afridi addressed the protestors.

Mushtaq Ahmed Khan criticised the government for using delaying tactics and not merging Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said the government was playing with fire by delaying the merger.

“Our protest will continue until the government announces merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The government should either mainstream Fata or quit,” said the JI provincial head.

“We want the government to abolish the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), merge Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and announce a special development package of Rs1,000 billion for projects in the hitherto neglected seven tribal agencies and six Frontier Regions,” he maintained.

The ‘long march’ will resume from Markaz-e-Islami, the headquarters of JI, on the Grand Trunk Road in Peshawar today after an overnight stay in the provincial capital.

Our correspondent adds from Jamrud: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) provincial head Mushtaq Ahmed demanded abolition of the FCR and merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Flanked by JI parliamentary leader in National Assembly Sahibzada Tariqullah and MNA Shahjee Gul Afridi, he said that the rest of the country was governed by one law while Fata was administered under the draconian law of FCR.

He said that it was time to do away with the colonial-era laws and bring Fata under the jurisdiction of the Pakistani laws.

The JI leader said that hundreds of tribesmen were participating in the march that would pass through Peshawar, Nowshera and Attock on its way to Islamabad.

The participants would finally stage a protest sit-in outside the Parliament House till the implementation of the Sartaj Aziz-led Fata Reforms Committee that had recommended merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Accusing the federal government of employing delaying tactics, he asserted that most of the political parties and the Pakistan Army backed the merger.