FATA Student Organisation (FSO) threatened to protest across the country if the FSO’s President Shaukat Aziz is not released by the government.
Peshawar district administration arrested the FSO Central President Shaukat Aziz on December 9th for ‘protesting’ against the Frontiers Crimes Regulation (FCR).
Shaukat Aziz was rounded up under an article 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) after he chanted slogans against a tribal chief who spoke in favour of the FCR during the grand jirga called by the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) last week.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Samreen Wazir, general secretary of FSO’s female wing, said that it is quite unfortunate the people of the FATA are being deprived of raising voice for their rights.
Aziz was called by the deputy commissioner and asked to present a surety bond for not protesting in future, she told. However, Aziz was taken into custody and sent to prison before he could submit the bond.
She alleged that the FSO’s president was arrested because of his opposition to the FCR.
However, she vowed that their voice could not be silenced by such tactics and they would raise voice for the abolishment of the centuries-old black law known as FCR.
She further said that the FSO has no political agenda as it is only raising voice for the rights of people of troubled-hit people.
It is pertinent to mention that a scuffle erupted in a seminar last week after provocative comments were made by some participants. The Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Iqbal Zafar Jhagra was the chief guest of the seminar.
The members of the organisation particularly its president resorted to chant anti-FCR’s slogans which caused a chaotic situation and security personnel had to evacuate the governor.
Shamreen said that they should not be blamed for fiasco only, as there were other people who caused the uproar and it was unjustified to arrest Aziz only, who has been sent to Central Jail, Peshawar.
She claimed that the FSO peacefully carried out their protest, saying ‘It is our political right to chant slogans against the FCR, and the arrest is against the spirit of democracy’.
FSO staged protest demonstrations in front of Peshawar press club and vowed that the protest would be extended to FATA, Lahore and the other cities of the country if he was not released.
However, communiqué issued from the deputy commissioner Peshawar office said that the arrest has nothing to do with FATA. The district administration has taken him into custody under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order on the appeal of another citizen, Sajidullah Khan, as both of them were hurling threats at each other.
The communiqué termed the allegations of Shaukat Aziz as baseless and fabricated.
