Daily Times

KHYBER: The tribal elders belonging to different frontier regions and fuming workers of Jamiat Ulema-e Islam Fazl (JUI-F) on Sunday held a demonstration against merging of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

According to sources, scores of tribal elites, JUI-F political workers and locals carried out a rally that initiated from Bacha Khan Chowk and accumulated at Landi Kotal press club.

The agitators including Malik Faizullah Jan, Malik Razzaq Afridi, Mirajuddin, FATA JUI-F general secretary Mufti Muhammad Ijaz and prominent leaders announced that FATA-KP merger decision was made without the consent of tribesmen.

“A choice of an unrepresentative group has been imposed on majority of the tribesmen, who were not in favour of FATA-KP merger,” they claimed.

They further expressed deep concerns over change of setup, policies and services in the region that deprived them of amenities and utilities that they had enjoyed during previous setup including potable water, healthcare services and provision of quality education. “Besides, 28,000 Khasadar and Levies personnel have been left jobless and denied access to all of the benefits that they had,” they added while asserting that the tribesmen would never abandon their norms and values.

The speakers urged the locals to take revenge from those who had ‘inflicted an alien system’ in the region, and vote for pro-tribal candidates in the upcoming general election. Moreover, they pledged to foil all conspiracies against the country with a joint effort between tribesmen and security agencies.

Published in Daily Times, June 25^th 2018.