A grand tribal Jirga comprising elders from all the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Frontier regions on Friday said no to the ongoing military operation in Wana and asked the government to immediately halt the killing of innocent people at the behest of the United States. "Tribesmen are guards of the country as they played a big role during Russian attack on Afghanistan. If action against tribesmen is not stopped we will organise 10 million tribesmen for their self-defence," warned senior NWFP Minister Sirajul Haq while addressing the Jirga on Friday evening.
| Kinda contradicts the statements in the previous post, doesn't it? |
He criticised the government for blindly obeying each and every directive of the US and said the rulers must learn a lesson from the history of Mir Sadiq and Mir Jaffar. The minister urged tribesmen to resist action against them with the power of faith. "The government must honour commitments made with these people after creation of the country," Siraj maintained. He also warned the government over friendship with the United States and said it would be worst than their enmity. Some 1,000 tribal elders, including members of the National Assembly and Senate, from the seven agencies and six Frontier regions participated in the Jirga, convened by Jamaat-e-Islami. The participants on a number of occasions chanted slogans of "Allah-o-Akbar", "Sabilona, Sabilona Al-Jihad" and "stop killing of innocent tribesmen". Venue of the Jirga was decorated with banners inscribed with demands: stop killing of tribesmen in tribal areas, form separate council for Fata and replace the FCR with Islamic Shariah. The JI would evolve its future strategy against the military operation in Wana on the basis of suggestions and recommendations of the Jirga. Member National Assembly from Bajaur Agency Haroonur Rashid while presiding over the first session of the Jirga, strongly opposed the military operation in South Waziristan Agency. "President Musharraf is following the US agenda and innocent tribesmen are being killed on the pretext of al-Qaeda operatives in tribal areas," alleged Rashid. He said that no one could stop Jihad.
| It certainly isn't going to stop if nobody does anything about it. Qazi's people are working hard to make sure nobody does. |
The tribal legislature also opposed the notorious Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) and suggested to replace these laws with Islamic system of government. JI Deputy Secretary-General for Fata Zarnoor Afridi, in his speech made it clear that not a single member of al-Qaeda network was present in the tribal belt. "The government is killing locals, demolishing their houses and defaming tribal areas just to oblige the United States," Afridi maintained.
| Except that the "locals" originate in Chechnya and Uzbekistan... |
While recalling the struggle of Ajab Khan Afridi, Haji Sahib Turangzai and Faqir of Eppi, Afridi said that no one could force the tribal people. Earlier, the JI alleged that authorities of some tribal areas established check posts and took other steps to sabotage the upcoming Jirga. "We issued letters, after receiving some complaints from tribal elders, to the administration of Mohmand and other agencies that JI would strongly react to the arrests and other hurdles if created to impair the grand tribal Jirga," said an organiser of the Jirga. The JI was aiming to introduce a new law to replace the notorious FCR. "Our policy towards the issue is clear. We want that Islamic Shariah replaces the notorious law, the powers of political agent are restricted and he is made answerable to the court," said a participant of the Jirga. He added that the gathering also wanted holding of local bodies elections in tribal areas and constitution of a separate council for Fata, like the Northern Areas Council. |