Siraj demands release of funds to tribal areas

Our correspondent

LAHORE : Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Senator Sirajul Haq has demanded the federal and provincial governments that the development funds for the erstwhile tribal areas be release immediately besides Rs 100 billion package for rehabilitation of the areas to ensure completion of development projects there.

After the merger of tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the government abandoned the tribal people and did not fulfil the promises made with them at the time of merger, he said while speaking at a meeting with a representative delegation from former tribal agencies of Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Kurram and Darra Adam Khel at Mansoorah on Thursday.

Sirajul Haq said the areas were still without a constitution and the law and the rehabilitation work had been suspended because the three per cent share as agreed upon under the NFC Award had not been released to them. He said the tribal people were happy over the merger but they were getting disappointed for having been neglected for the last eight months and they were compelled to live in camps and destroyed homes in the extreme cold weather.

The JI chief said the people of the tribal areas had been serving as unpaid army of the country and they had the key role in the liberation of Azad Kashmir. However, he said, all the governments had been giving a step motherly treatment to them. He said the tribal people had offered the greatest sacrifices in the war against terrorism while the basic infrastructure was totally destroyed there.

The delegation, led by the heads of the JI of tribal areas, included ex-MNA Sahibzada Rashid Khan and Zar Noor Afridi.

Meanwhile, addressing participants in JI central workshop at Mansoorah, JI Secretary General Liaqat Baloch said nation’s hopes from the PTI had dashed to the ground and their problems had multiplied during the last six months. He said by now the PTI leadership had proved to be incompetent and having no vision. The PTI came in power with the slogan of accountability but it seemed to have been defeated by the corrupt mafia which was also present in the PTI like in other parties. He said government had not taken a single step towards its promised goal of the state of Madina. He said the rulers were defaming the country by carrying the begging bowl all over the world. He said the ill-gotten money of the corrupt elements transferred abroad must be recovered.