Tribal elders reject FATA-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa merger

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], December 17 (ANI): The residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including tribal leaders, have rejected the merger of their areas with the province and demanded an immediate repeal of the 25th Amendment, Dawn reported.
Under the 25th Amendment, Pakistan made Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to reform tribal areas and to bring it within constitutional jurisdiction, but rather than solving the problem, it has become an obstacle in the way of development.
Jirga, consisting of tribal elders, civil society members and some religious scholars, chanted slogans against the merger of former Fata with the province. They also held black flags.
Speakers on occasion called for the formation of a larger bench of the apex court to hear their petition against the merger, which they alleged was imposed upon the people of tribal areas without their consent, reported Dawn.
They said that some unseen hands were creating obstacles to the formation of a larger bench despite an assurance about its formation before Ramazan in the current year. The Jirgas also demanded the federal government's reactivation of a parliamentary committee to initiate a meaningful dialogue about the repeal or otherwise of the merger plan.
Calling for the holding of a genuine census in the tribal districts, they alleged that the people erstwhile Fata were deprived of their constitutional share in national resources, as per Dawn report.
Earlier, in November, Tribal loyal Jirga decided to block the Afghanistan-Pakistan highway at Jamrud Bypass to register their protest against the merger of FATA with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) without the consent of all tribes and people.
A protest camp went near the Jamrud Bypass against the merger of FATA with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, reported Pak vernacular media, Aeen.
Jirga elders Afarsayab Afridi, Sher Bahadur Afridi and others said that the FATA merger was a conspiracy to capture the natural resources in the region which is unacceptable and people of FATA have been made slaves under a conspiracy which we will not tolerate.
They demanded that illegal taxes should be revoked, the number of seats in the National Assembly and the Senate should be reinstated and tribal cultures and values should be restored, else, FATA should be made a separate province, reported Daily Pakistan.
The people of FATA have been facing lots of trouble since the merger with KP. Tribal people are not at all happy even after three years of merger and are not satisfied with the measures and policies adopted by the governments as their problems are increasing day by day, reported Pak vernacular media.
Many tribes prefer Jirga over the judiciary for settling their issues. People against FATA's merger with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are getting active in this situation and are trying to convince tribes that the merger was a mistake and the results are in front. (ANI)