News
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Political parties divided over promulgation of 2 laws in KPStaff Report
PESHAWAR: A civil society perspective seminar on ‘Action In aid of Civil Power in Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas’ held among civil society organisations, nationalist and democratic forces on Monday failed to reach a consensus over two laws, which human rights activists believe could be misused to target political opponents.
Civil society organisations and political parties were divided over the introduction of tough new laws for FATA and PATA to deal with the threat of terrorism in the Tribal Areas and Malakand region.
Awami National Party (ANP), Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) and National Party (NP) stood in support of the two laws while Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Pakistan People’s Party-Sherpao (PPP-S) and Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) opposed them.
“We support these laws but there are some flaws which need to be removed,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain told the conference, which was organised by Citizen Rights and Sustainable Development with support from Action Aid.
“Political reforms in Tribal Areas are the first drop in the ocean and real reforms are destined to come in the Tribal Areas,” Mian Iftikhar remarked, adding that the Pakhtoon nation was paying the price of an undeclared war on their soil.
PPP-S, JI, JUI-F and PML-N representatives said that they opposed the laws because they would make tribal people’s lives miserable. “We demand immediate withdrawal of the laws,” they said. “We support political reforms in Tribal Areas and they are enough.”
PMAP member Arbab Mujib said that Uzbek and Arab terrorists were beheading innocent people in the Tribal Areas and that the government promulgated the laws to put a stop to such acts, which they welcomed.
NP member Mukhtar Bacha told the conference that the laws would eliminate terrorism from the Tribal Areas and Malakand region.
JI leader Sirajul Haq said that the laws were in violation of Article 247 of the Constitution as the two regulations “violate human rights” in the Tribal Areas.
“These regulations will fuel disturbances in the Tribal Areas instead of eliminating terrorism,” the JI leader warned.
PML-N leader Anwar Kamal said that the noose around the Pakhtoon nation’s collective necks was being further tightened and that the two regulations would make the Tribal Areas “hell” for people there. “The Pakhtoon nation should be freed from the clutches of the US and Pakistan Army.”
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk