FATA’s merger with KP: JI 'long march' reaches Islamabad's China Chowk
December 12, 2017
ISLAMABAD: A convoy of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) workers and supporters reached China Chowk near Islamabad's Blue Area Tuesday afternoon as part of its 'long march' from Khyber Agency to the Parliament to press for the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah, who earlier in the day had staged a walkout from the National Assembly over government's failure to table FATA Reforms Bill, reached China Chowk to show support for JI's long march.
Earlier, the workers had gathered at Faizabad Interchange after camping near Rawalpindi's Murree Road Monday night.
Addressing the convoy at Faizabad Interchange, JI Cheif Siraj-ul-Haq remarked that the purpose of the long march is the abolition of Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR). The people of tribal areas have no basic rights due to the presence of FCR, he said.
“The people in tribal areas want the abolition of FCR. The people of tribal areas have stood up and raised their voice against injustice.”
He remarked that all political parties should support the people in the tribal area. “We want oppression and injustice to end,” he added.
Opposition Leader Khurshid Shah
Opposition Leader Syed Khursheed Shah also joined the long march.
While addressing the participants of the march, he said that: "at the time when countries all over the world are breaking up – people of FATA want to join the mainstream Pakistani political system but unfortunately the government is blocking the move."
Shah added that FATA should be immediately merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa.
"People of FATA are patriotic Pakistanis," he added.
Earlier, the party supporters and workers had departed from Bab-e-Khyber on Monday.
During the course of the long march, sit-ins were held at several places from Khyber Agency to Peshawar. The final sit-in is to be staged outside the Parliament for three days, after which the future line of action will be announced.
JI had announced a long march towards Islamabad last month.
“The announcement to abolish the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) next week is vague. The federal government should clearly announce the merger of Fata with KP. It made the claims many times in the past but withdrew from its promises at the eleventh hour moment,” Mushtaq Ahmad, the provincial chief of the JI, had said while speaking to media over the weekend.
He had welcomed the government’s decision of abolishing the FCR and termed it a victory of the JI. However, he had continued that the JI would still hold the long march so that the government does not backtrack on its promise.
“We will start our long march from Khyber Agency after a sit-in there. Our long march is peaceful and we hope the government will not create any hurdle in our way,” the JI provincial amir had said.
The JI leader had added his party would convert the long march into celebration if the federal government announced the merger of the tribal areas with KP.
“We want the government to abolish the FCR, merge Fata with KP immediately and announce a special package of Rs1,000 billion for developmental projects in the hitherto neglected tribal areas,” Ahmad had said.
