In solidarity with the grand protest being organised by parliamentarians of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) in Islamabad today, the provincial chapter of the Awami National Party (ANP) would also hold a rally in Karachi on Monday to demand immediate merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Fata parliamentarians, led by Khyber Agency’s MNA Shah Jee Gul Afridi, decided to organise the grand protest in Islamabad against the delay in the proposed KP-Fata merger.
In a meeting held at Bacha Khan Markaz, the ANP’s provincial headquarter in Banaras, on Sunday, the party leaders observed that the delay was an injustice to the tribal people. The party agreed to organise a rally outside the local press club at 4:30 pm.
“Karachi is the city where people of all seven tribal agencies live in a large number. They will participate in the protest to express their anger over the delay in merger,” said Younas Bunairee, the ANP Sindh’s secretary general.
Social and economic development in Fata is impossible without this merger, he said. Without naming Maulana Fazlur Rheman, the head of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, and Mehmood Khan Achakzai, the two politicians opposing the merger, Bunairee said that because of the two politicians, millions of tribal people are forced to live under the black law of Frontier Crimes Regulation.
He said the federal government is bound to provide the tribal people their basic rights as per their wishes and get them rid of FCR at the earliest. “Our party has a very clear policy in this regard and will continue to raise voice in support of the tribal people,” said the ANP official.