JUI-F, PJDP rally demands separate Fata province

LANDIKOTAL: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Pakistan Justice and Democratic Party (PJDP) staged a protest rally on Sunday to demand a separate Fata province.

Hundreds of JUI-F and PJDP workers and leaders marched in Landikotal Bazaar from Bacha Khan Chowk up to Landikotal Press Club. They were chanting slogans against Frontier Crimes Regulation and in favour of a separate province.

The demonstrators were holding placards and banners inscribed with “Go FCR Go!”Speaking on the occasion, PJDP Fata president Daulat Shah Afridi and JUI-F Landikotal president Maulana Mujahid Ahmad said that they were against the complete abolition of FCR. They said the tribal people had suffered during past 15 years of militancy.

Daulat Shah said separate province was the ultimate choice of 10 million Fata people. Maulana Mujahid said that Fata was full of minerals that could be used if tribal people get their own province. He said members of the parliament from Khyber Agency were not elected for merger of Fata but they should concentrate on the basic needs including the provision of education, health and drinking water.

The JUI-F leader said they had also submitted a petition in the Peshawar High Court against the possible merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said they would continue their legal and constitutional fight for their rights. The Fata MNAs and senators were sent to the parliament but they ignored their voters afterwards, he added.