APC in Bannu rejects Mines and Minerals Bill 2025

BANNU: Anr All Parties Conference (convened by the Awami National Party (ANP) here on Sunday rejected the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mines and Minerals Bill 2025, declaring it unconstitutional, against provincial autonomy and detrimental to public interest.

Held in Shehbaz Azmatkhel and presided over by senior ANP leader and former senator Baz Mohammad Khan, the conference was attended by representatives from various political, religious, legal, social, and trade organisations. The participants expressed deep concern over what they termed as Centre’s interference, forced partnerships, and the promotion of external interests through the new legislation.The speakers, including former senator Prof. Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, Naz Ali Khan Wazir, Dr Pir Sahib Zaman, City Mayor Irfan Durrani, and multiple legal and tribal representatives, argued that the bill undermines the 18th Constitutional Amendment and poses a serious threat to the province’s natural resources, local employment, and economic autonomy.

They warned that the bill, under the guise of promoting investment and development, actually grants the federal government excessive authority and facilitates undue control over the mineral sector by external forces and federal institutions.

The Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) was a key point of criticism. The APC rejected any role of the SIFC or federal zoning in provincial matters, terming it an unconstitutional body aiming to take over sectors such as agriculture, minerals, tourism, environment, and IT.

The APC condemned the recently passed minerals law in Balochistan and demanded its immediate withdrawal.The participants opposed the ban on marriage under the age of 18 for girls, citing cultural and legal reasons. The conference strongly rejected the legal actions, including FIRs and Schedule IV listings, against citizens protesting the worsening law and order situation in Bannu.

It called for the reinstatement of dismissed police personnel, reopening of all blocked roads, and internal security arrangements within government facilities instead of disrupting public mobility.

A strong demand was made for the immediate recovery of kidnapped teacher Farman Ali Shah and other abductees, as well as urgent measures to counter kidnapping, extortion, and targeted killings in the region. The APC urged authorities to end unjust and excessive electricity load shedding by WAPDA and ensure uninterrupted power supply to the people of Bannu.