LAHORE: Jamaat e Islami (JI) Pakistan chief Senator Sirajul Haq said Friday that the passage of a bill in the National Assembly (NA) through which the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court (SC) and the high court has been extended to the tribal areas is a big victory for the tribal people.
He said this while addressing the participants of the JI central workshop at Mansoora. On the occasion, he said that it was deplorable that the present government had delayed the abolition of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and fixing three per cent quota for the area in the National Finance Commission.
Sirajul Haq said that the extension of the apex court’s jurisdiction to the tribal areas was an important step towards the restoration of basic human rights in the areas and the abolition of the black law, popularly known as FCR. However, he said that the government had partly accepted the demands of the tribal people by making half-hearted attempts to integrate the tribal population into the mainstream of the country.
He said that despite the recommendation of Sartaj Aziz, the government had wasted an opportunity of bringing the tribal areas at par with the other parts of the country. He said it seemed that the government wanted to gain time to complete its term instead of working for the betterment of the people. However, he said that the JI would not rest at ease until the tribal people got their lawful rights.
He further said that the developments in the Balochistan Assembly against the federal government’s wishes showed that the government’s grip had weakened and it had lost control over the affairs of the country.
The JI chief also said that the Kasur incident had exposed the claims of good governance made by the provincial government as it had been proved that the masses, especially minors, were not secure anywhere in Punjab.
He termed the government’s performance as extremely disappointing and said the rulers did not had any solution to address the problems being faced by the masses. The lives, properties and honour of the people was at stake as the government continued to deprive them of the basic necessities of life, he added.
He also said that JI was striving to implement the Sharia law in the country, after which all people in the country would get justice at their doorsteps.
