PESHAWAR: Different political parties on Sunday urged the government to honour the commitments made with the people of the newly-merged tribal districts and expedite the process of implementation of the reforms package.
“The government is deliberately delaying the implementation of the merger plan and the 25th Constitutional Amendment, but the political forces would not allow anyone to backtrack on the commitments and foil the merger,” said Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan in his concluding remarks at the All Parties Tribal Conference here.
Arranged by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the conference was attended by leaders and representatives of different political parties.
Prominent among them were provincial president of the Pakistan People’s Party Humayun Khan, former deputy speaker, National Assembly, Faisal Karim Kundi, senior vice-president of the party Akhunzada Chattan, general secretary Awami National Party Sardar Hussain Babak, Ikhtiar Wali of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Hashim Babar of Qaumi Watan Party, provincial vice-president of JI Inayatullah Khan and others.
Inayatullah Khan, who was conducting the programme, informed the participants that leaders and representatives of almost all the political parties were present at the conference.
Qaumi Watan Party had its own meeting on the same issue but despite that, they had sent their representative to the conference.
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) was invited to the programme, but they were holding a ‘million march’ in Jamrud, Khyber Agency, due to which they could not participate.
A joint declaration was issued after the conference wherein the armed forces were asked to ensure gradual withdrawal from the former tribal areas on the pattern of other districts of Malakand division.
The speakers on the occasion expressed concern over the delay in implementation of the merger plan.
They said the present government had no vision or development plan for the tribal districts.
Mushtaq Ahmad Khan said the former Fata consisted of 27,400 square kilometre land and its people were scattered from Bajaur to Karachi due to the excesses of the state.
He said that the merger of the former tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was a collective achievement of all the political forces.
“The merger was a great achievement, but it was not the destination though a major step towards the destiny. The real destination is an appropriate compensation to the 70-year long criminal negligence of the tribal areas,” he said.
The JI leader added that the real aim of the merger plan was to give rights to the people living in the tribal belt on the pattern of the people of other areas of the state.
He said commitments were made with the people of the tribal areas, but now these were not being fulfilled.
“But we will not allow the government to run away from the promises they had made with the erstwhile Fata,” he remarked.
He said soon after the merger, the judicial system should have been shifted to the tribal districts. “Now the people of the former tribal areas are travelling to courts in the settled districts, which is ridiculous,” he said.
A commitment to create 30,000 jobs in tribal areas was made. The process of job creation should be expedited and only tribal youth should be recruited against these positions, he said.
He stressed the need for immediate implementation of the Rs1000 billion relief package for the tribal areas.
The joint declaration stated that the so-called war against terrorism had badly affected the infrastructure and sources of income in the tribal areas. Therefore, the Rs1000 billion package and 3 percent allocation in the National Finance Commission (NFC) award should be given a constitutional guarantee, he added.
Mushtaq Ahmad Khan also spoke about missing persons and demanded the government to immediately resolve the issue of missing persons.
He said that 95 percent of the missing persons were Pakhtuns. “If they have any involvement in unlawful activities, they should be presented before the court of law,” he said.
About the border trade, he said that trade corridor should be opened with Afghanistan at every tribal district.
Sardar Hussain Babak questioned the attitude of the government and some state institutions towards the tribal people.
“This attitude first faced condemnation, then resistance and now signs of revolt are seen. It is time for those at the helm of the affairs to realize the reality and sit with the affected people and resolve the problem,” he stressed.
He said even now tens of thousands of tribal people were living as internally displaced persons and urged their early return to their native lands.
The ANP leader questioned the process of delimitation and census in the tribal districts, saying the Pakhtuns living in these areas were not counted properly.
Faisal Karim Kundi said it was being propagated wrongly that Sindh was hampering the award of 3 percent share in the NFC to the merged district. He said the PPP leaders and Sindh government had always supported and would continue supporting uplift of the tribal districts.
Akhunzada Chattan said the roadmap given for the former tribal areas should be implemented. He categorised the roadmap in two categories - development and judicial system.