PESHAWAR: The All Fata Political Parties Alliance has threatened to observe August 14 as black day if government fails to merge the tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Addressing at news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Thursday, All Fata Political Parties Alliance president Haji Iqbal Afrdi said that tribal people had already requested the government to merge Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but some anti-reforms elements wanted to create hurdles to them.
He said that tribal people wanted repeal of Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) because it was implemented by British rulers. “Now Fata is a part of Pakistan and the country’s laws should be implemented there,” he added.
The leaders of different parties in Fata including Zar Noor Afridi of JI, Ijaz Afridi of National Party, Nisar Khan of ANP and Mustafa of QWP were also present on the occasion.
Demand merger of tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
They also asked the government to abolish FCR and introduce reforms in Fata so that tribal people could get rights like residents of settled areas.
Iqbal Afridi alleged that billions of rupees meant for development of Fata were embezzled owing to enforcement of FCR in tribal areas. Tribal people were pressurised and they could not dare to raise voice against the corrupt officials of political administration, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Zar Noor Afridi said that the alliance wanted to bring more than 10 million people of Fata into mainstream. It was the only way to make progress, he said, adding that in present condition tribal people could not feel any change in their life, he added.
“People of Fata are deliberately kept backward and deprived of basic human rights and facilities including education, health, employment and others. That’s why instability is destiny of the tribal region,” he said.
Zar Noor Afridi said that they had heard about possible launch of military operation in Mohmand Agency. “Our suggestion is that it should be a targeted operation to avoid casualty of innocent people, loss of properties and dislocation of families,” he added.
Ijaz Afridi said on the occasion that prime minister should announce at least a package of Rs500 billion for rehabilitation and reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure in Fata. He said that tribal people rendered sacrifice for the integrity and sovereignty of the country.
The leaders of the alliance said that if their demands were not met till August 14, they would not only observe the independent day as a black day but would also launch a series of protest demonstrations to record their protest.
Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2016
0 comments:
Post a Comment