JUI-F grand Jirga demands honourable return of IDPs
November 23, 2014
In a joint communique, the tribal jirga also demanded a comprehensive package of compensation to the heirs of the Shuhada and for damages to property, treatment of the injured and restoration of the damaged infrastructure in the tribal areas. The communique stressed for establishment of medical and engineering colleges, technical training institutions and industrial zones in Fata to bring the area at par with the developed areas of the country.
It also demanded the cancellation of the ‘Action in Aid of Civil Power Regulation’ and the strengthening of the jirga system.
The jirga was held at the Convention Centre here on Saturday and was addressed by the JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) president Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) president Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Haider Abbas Rizvi of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Shahji Gul Afridi, Senator Saleh Shah, Malik Khan Marjan and others.
Addressing the jirga, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the war imposed on Fata was the handiwork of the United States.
He said Washington has sinister designs against the Muslim Ummah and developing countries.
He said whatever is being witnessed in the Arab world and the Middle East is the beginning of the geographical division. He said this war is not needed by the Muslim Ummah.
The Maulana said the tribal people and all Pakistanis want peace. “Our only crime is that we are a hurdle in the fulfilment of the American agenda,” he said.
Fazlur Rehman said the need of the hour is to get the country out of present situation. He pleaded for a resolution of differences among the Pakistanis instead of becoming part of the international coalition.
The Maulana said a political situation was created in Islamabad that diverted the attention from the situation being faced by North Waziristan IDPs. He said though there is peace in Wana but there are talks of displacement of the people.
Mahmood Khan Achakzai said Pakistan can become a model federation where parliament has all the powers. He demanded giving constitutional rights to the tribal people and an end to the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR). He said a province be made from Bajaur to South Waziristan.
He said lawlessness in Fata impacts Afghanistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan and as such there should be no interference in Fata. He questioned how Uzbeks, Chechens and Tajiks came to the tribal areas and asked the government to talk to their countries for their deportation.
Achakzai said the tribal people have same rights as Saraikis, Punjabis or Sindhis. He said hundreds of people were killed during attacks on Asfandyar Wali, Fazlur Rehman and Aftab Khan Sherpao but it is still not known who the perpetrators were.
Asfandyar Wali in his speech said the sit-ins at D-Chowk were staged to divert the attention of the world from the sufferings of the NWA IDPs.
He said the federal and provincial governments ignored the IDPs and concentrated on their tussle for power.
He said no camp was set up for the people displaced by the Khyber-I Operation and they are being told to make their own arrangements.
He questioned why houses were vacated and then bombed. Asfandyar said people should be sent back to the areas which have been cleared. He called for taking the tribal elders into confidence for peace in the tribal areas.
Aftab Sherpao said the political situation has put the tribal issue on the back burner. He said tribal advisers were targeted under a conspiracy to leave the people leaderless.
Malik Shahnawaz Khan, chairman tribal jirga, said the tribes are the army of Pakistan who are defending the frontiers of the country without any greed. He appealed to the government that the tribal issue should be resolved through dialogue and arrangements be made for the return of IDPs to their homes.
