PESHAWAR: As Fata parliamentarians gear up for the Oct 9 mass protest in Islamabad to press the government for constitutional amendment to mainstream their region, a multi-party conference here on Tuesday demanded the merger of tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before the next general elections.

The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Sami organised the conference, which was attended by KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, Pakistan Defence Council chairman Maulana Samiul Haq, leaders of Awami National Party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Qaumi Watan Party, parliamentary leader of Fata MNAs Shah Jee Gul Afridi and elders from tribal agencies.

“The government should make constitutional amendments for the merger of Fata with tribal areas and recognise the region part of the province,” said a joint declaration, which was released at the concluding session of the conference.

It further said social and economic development of Fata was not possible without its merger with KP.

The conference also demanded the extension of the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and Peshawar High Court to the tribal areas.

Also calls for superior courts’ jurisdiction in tribal areas

Rejecting the proposed post of the chief operating officer to oversee the process of reforms and transition period in Fata, it said the KP chief minister should be the chief executive of the tribal belt after the region’s merger with the province.

The Fata parliamentarians have planned to stage a sit-in in front of Parliament House on Oct 9 until the federal government meets their three demands in question.

Major parties, including PPP, ANP and JI, and other groups have announced participation in the protest.

MNA Shah Jee Gul Afridi said Fata people’s demands included amendments to the Constitution to extend the jurisdiction of the superior courts to Fata, representation of tribal people in the KP Assembly and convening of a meeting of Council of Common Interest on the matter.

He said the people from tribal areas would proceed to Islamabad to take part in the protest, which would continue until the government met their demands.

“We will continue sit-in until the required amendments are made to the Constitution,” Shah Jee told Dawn.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai came under fire in the conference for opposing the Fata-KP merger.

Addressing the conference, CM Pervez Khattak urged the people to fully participate in the oct 9 protest to pressure the federal government to execute the Fata-KP merger plan before the next general elections.

“Now, it is up to the people of Fata whether they want their region’s merger with KP in 2018 or wait until 2023,” he said, adding that the unification of tribal areas and KP was a matter of one month.

The CM said tribal people should work on a one-point agenda, which was Fata-KP merger.

He said the federal government had agreed in principle to give representation to the people of Fata in the provincial assembly in the next general elections, eradicate Frontier Crimes Regulation and make necessary amendments to the Constitution regarding Fata.

Mr Khattak said the Frontier Corps had offered to provide 15,000 personnel to work as a police force in Fata during the transition period.

He said the federal government had no objection to the integration of Fata to KP.

The CM said the centre would have to give Fata a Rs100 billion package and that is the only reason it didn’t want to do the Fata-KP merger, but in the process, the federal government endangered the national integration.

ANP central general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain said all stakeholders, including security establishment, were in favour of reforms and merger of Fata with KP. He said some quarters wanted reforms in Fata in different phases.

Expressing concern about the post-Panamagate verdict scenario in the country, he said reforms in Fata could be delayed for an indefinite period if the democratic setup was wrapped up.

The ANP leader said the KP chief minister should give a lead role in the reform process in Fata after it was merger with the province. He also demanded the role of the Supreme Court and Peshawar High Court in tribal areas.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2017