JI threatens to stage sit-in if Fata not merged with KP

By
GEO NEWS
|

ISLAMABAD: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq on Tuesday said his party would stage a sit-in in Islamabad if the government fails to go ahead with the merger of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

"Residents of tribal areas want their rights, they want a merger with KP, and they want the abolition of Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR)," Haq said while addressing attendees of a long march in the federal capital's Faizabad vicinity.

He announced a protest in the federal capital on December 31 if the government fails to go ahead with the merger of FATA with KP.

"Residents of FATA are participating in a long march toward Islamabad, particularly the National Assembly with the basic objective of love for Pakistan and hatred for a system based on injustice, oppression, and FCR," he said.

The JI Amir further said that people living in the tribal areas want their offspring to be educated.

The opposition staged a walkout in the National Assembly earlier today after the government failed to table a bill pertaining to reforms in the tribal areas.

During the assembly session, chaired by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah criticised the callous attitude of the government regarding the bill.

He remarked that the government was not serious about the implementation of the FATA Reforms Bill.

"Seventy years have passed, we must work towards solving the problems of people of FATA," he said, adding “we hope that FATA Reforms Bill is part of the assembly agenda tomorrow [Wednesday].”

“Our stance was very clear, if you don’t do this [table the bill] then it is an insult of the Parliament,” he said, adding “we want the Parliament to be respected.”

The opposition leader further said that they will continue to stage walkouts till a clarification is given for delaying the matter.

FATA Reforms Bill

The recommendations to bring FATA at par with the rest of the country were approved at the Cabinet meeting on FATA reforms on March 2.

Once FATA is made part of KP, the province's share in the National Finance Commission will increase, as three percent will be earmarked for the region.

The KP Assembly had adopted a resolution on December 14, 2016, in favour of merging FATA with KP that would help rehabilitate and reconstruct the infrastructure including roads, communications, power lines, water supply, education and health facilities.