Elders ask govt to reverse Fata-KP merger

BARA: Tribal elders here on Monday claimed the government had not taken the tribal population into confidence before merging the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

They were speaking at a jirga, which the Khyber Qaumi Jirga, had arranged at the hujra of a tribal elder Musa Khan at Bar Qambarkhel area in Bara. Tribal elders, including Malik Bismillah Khan Kukikhel, Malik Abdul Razzak Afridi, Malik Tehmash Shalmani, Malik Ibrar, Malik Fazal Rahman, Malik Yar Muhammad and others, attended the jirga.

Speaking on the occasion, they alleged that the government was not sincere in accepting their demands and said ex-Fata was merged with KP by force. They alleged that the government imposed the merger on the tribal people under foreign pressure.

The tribal elders said the Supreme Court was hearing a case challenging the merger of the tribal districts with KP. They said the people of the tribal districts did not want the merger and wanted the government to reverse it.

“The government made promises with the tribal people before the merger, but it failed to honour them,” Malik Bismillah Khan said. He believed that the Frontier Crimes Regulation was not a hurdle to the development of the former tribal areas and that the British-era law needed only amendments.

Malik Bismillah said a majority of the people had rejected the merger. Other elders claimed that the Fata Reforms Committee headed by Sartaj Aziz had recommended bringing reforms to ex-Fata, not the merger. The elders asked the Supreme Court to provide justice to the tribesmen by constituting a larger bench to hear the case challenging the merger.