‘Customs not FCR will ensure peace in FATA’

PESHAWAR: Jamaat-e-Islami naib amir in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), MNA Haroon Rashid, said on Sunday that tribal customs and traditions and not the Frontier Crime Regulations (FCR) had brought peace to the tribal areas.

Mr Rashid, while speaking at a jirga in Mohmand Agency, said the tribesmen were defenders of the country’s ideological and geographical frontiers and had played a significant role in the independence of the country.

He accused General Pervez Musharraf of terrorising the tribesmen at the behest of America. “The tribesmen not only took part in jihad for the liberation of Kashmir but also bravely defended the 2,500 kilometres of the western border during the Russian invasion into Afghanistan,” he said. Mr Rashid demanded the abolishment of the FCR and the enforcement of Shariah laws in the tribal areas. He rejected the nominated councils for FATA and termed such councils a part of the American agenda. JI’s deputy secretary, Zar Noor Afridi, said that the FCR was tantamount to martial law since under it a despot exercised all the powers of the judiciary, legislature and administration. staff report

Home | National