Efforts to merge Fata into KP being sabotaged: Sherpao

Says Punjab developed at cost of smaller provinces 

CHARSADDA: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) head Aftab Sherpao on Saturday said that conspiracies were being hatched to sabotage the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) into KP.

“Efforts were made for the first time in history to unite the Pakhtuns, but now some elements are conspiring to thwart the proposed merger in a bid to divide the Pakhtuns,” he maintained. 

He was addressing a well-attended gathering in Sherpao village to mark the 42nd death anniversary of Hayat Muhammad Khan Sherpao.

Speakers and participants at the yearly event paid tributes to Hayat Sherpao and highlighted his struggle for the rights of the downtrodden people of the society.

Hayat Sherpao, who was elder brother of Aftab Sherpao and among the founders of the Pakistan People’s Party, was killed in a bomb explosion at the University of Peshawar.

QWP’s provincial ministers Sikandar Sherpao and Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli, along with other party leaders were present on the occasion.

Aftab Sherpao said that such steps aimed at sabotaging the merger of Fata into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would further deepen the sense of deprivation among the Pakhtuns and weaken the federation.

He maintained that all stakeholders were in favour of integrating Fata into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He believed the merger was being delayed to help Punjab maintain control over the resources.

QWP chief said that the people of tribal belt had rendered huge sacrifices for the country, adding, they have been displaced from their houses and living the life of TDPs in different districts of province.

He also came down hard on the opponents of the merger of Fata into KP and urged the youth and civil society to support it.

The QWP head said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would become the second biggest province in Pakistan in terms of population if Fata was merged into it.

He noted that the Pakhtuns had rendered matchless sacrifices for the country, but even then they were deprived of their rights. “We will not rest until the Pakhtuns get their due rights,” he vowed. He alleged that a single province was benefiting from the resources of the country and undermining the federation. He claimed Punjab was being developed at the cost of other provinces.