Sherpao calls for Fata’s merger with KP

PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) head Aftab Sherpao on Sunday called for the early merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to bring the tribal areas into the mainstream.

He said that merger of the Fata with KP would not only stamp out the black laws of the colonial era, but it would also open up new vistas of development and prosperity for the tribal people.

The QWP chief was talking to reporters from the print and electronic media after meeting the delegation of the Fata Youth Jirga here.

Aftab Sherpao urged the federal government to take all the stakeholders into confidence on the issue of Fata-KP merger. He said that tribal people would not accept any solution other than the mainstreaming of Fata through its merger with KP.

The QWP said that if there were reservations about the merger, these should be discussed in the Parliament. Aftab Sherpao further said the federal government would lose the trust of the people of Fata and KP if it buckled under pressure from those opposing the Fata-KP merger.

He believed the government had backtracked on the Fata reforms package. The QWP is willing to develop consensus among the political parties to work out a strategy for merger of the tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he added.

Aftab Sherpao said those opposing the Fata reforms were in fact doing a great disservice to the nation. "By denying the people of the tribal areas their rights, these elements are playing with fire," he warned.

The QWP chief rejected the results of census which showed a decrease in the population of tribal areas. He said his party had expressed reservations over the installation of counting machines in Islamabad.

The QWP said unlike other provinces, the counting machines were not installed in Peshawar and the step was beyond logic and it created doubts. Aftab Sherpao said that manipulating census result was sheer injustice as it would deprive the tribal people of their rights. He said that the Pakistan People's Party's U-turn on the delimitation was not in favour of smaller provinces and said it would deprive them units of their rights.

Aftab Sherpao said that QWP believed in upholding the rule of law and democracy. He believed the government would complete its constitutional tenure. He said the Pakhtuns rendered matchless sacrifices for the restoration of peace, but their services were ignored which created unrest among them.

"The Pakhtuns faced displacements and suffered colossal human and material losses," he maintained. He said his party was committed to working for the rights of the Pakhtuns and it would spare no effort to work for their wellbeing.