Grand Jirga demands Fata as separate province

Fata Grand Jirga has demanded of the government to make Fata a separate province and announced a movement to get their demand accepted. The Jirga organised a conference here at Nishtar Hall where leaders of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, former ambassador Ayaz Wazir and tribal maliks.
Former diplomat Ambassador Ayaz Wazir, Brigadier Saeed Nazir (retd), Malik Khan Marjan and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief for Fata, Mufti Abdul Shakoor were the main speakers at the event. The Nishtar Hall had been decorated with banners and posters inscribed with slogans for a separate tribal province and against the proposed merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The maliks said that they would lose their identity by merging Fata with KP, adding that tribal people have not given power of attorney to the Reforms Committee to decide their future. They said that MNA Ghalib Khan lied that all MNAs were on the same page; political parties who have no representation in center were struggling for its merger. They said that they demand a separate province with Jirga system to decide our disputes and abolition of FCR.
The JUI-F head for Fata, Mufti Abdul Shakoor in his address said his party would honour the decision of the common tribes people and representative jirga of the tribal people on the future status of the Fata as they alone had the right to do so.
"We convened a grand jirga of the tribal elders and youth where the participants formed Fata Supreme Council to mobilise the movement for a separate province," the JUI-F leader said. "The tribal people should be the master of their resources and ought to be given the right to decide their destiny," he maintained.
Ayaz Wazir said some of the political parties and parliamentarians had politicised the issue of tribal reforms for their vested interest as the idea of merger was not the only option in the reforms. "No decision should be taken in haste about the future status of the Fata. The issue should be discussed at the tribal jirga and other forums where tribal people are able to voice their independent views," he argued.
The former diplomat said the tribal people would have their own chief minister, governor, government and ministers once they get a separate tribal province.
Malik Khan Marjan, a tribal elder from North Waziristan Agency, said some political parties were imposing their views and decisions on the tribal people as they wanted to usurp the resources of Fata. "There are thousands of tribal people who are still homeless. The politicians and parliamentarians should first raise their voice for the return of the displaced people to their native areas and their resettlement," he said. He asked the government to announce a special compensation package for the tribal people who had returned to their homes in North Waziristan and Khyber tribal agencies.
The function was also addressed by other members of the Fata Supreme Council and tribal students. They vowed to mobilize the tribal people and accelerate their movement for a separate tribal province. Meanwhile, movement for merger of Fata has been expedited as pro-merger members National Assembly from Fata and anti-merger political parties arranging public gathering to drum up support in their favour. The pro-merger MNAs and Grand Tribal Jirga organised separate gathering in Khyber tribal Agency.
The MNAs at a public gathering here asked the government to merge Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as it was essential for development of the tribal areas. They demanded of the government to abolish Frontier Crimes Regulation without further delay and bring Fata into mainstream.
Addressing a public gathering here at Jamrud Sports Complex, MNAs Shah Gul Afridi, Nazir Khan and Senator Abdur Rahman said that time has come to bring Fata into mainstream. They asked the tribal people to join them in their struggle to merge Fata with KP and vowed to continue their struggle till their demands were met. They said that Fata could not be kept deprived of its rights anymore and asked the government to abolish the colonial era FCR.
The MNAs said that the government was again trying to deceive the tribal people, adding that it itself prepared the recommendations and was unwilling to implement it. A larger number of people were attended the gathering.