Asfandyar demands Fata merger with KP

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan has demanded merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and giving it representation in the provincial assembly before the general election.

Speaking at the Jashn-e-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at the Bacha Khan Markaz here on Monday, he said his party had rendered great sacrifices for restoration of peace and giving identity to the province.

He said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Mian Nawaz Sharif had to flee to Saudi Arabia when he did not keep his promise with ANP’s late leader Abdul Wali Khan. He added that when Nawaz Sharif backtracked on his promise for merging Fata with Khybr Pakhtunkhwa, he could neither escape the country nor find any hiding place in Pakistan.

Asfandyar Wali said that Nawaz Sharif tried to persuade Pakistan People’s Party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari not to rename the erstwhile North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but Zardari rejected the proposal.

He said the PML-N leaders knew that the merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the only solution to the problem, but they were reluctant as they feared that the credit for the merger would go to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The ANP chief warned that a protest campaign would be launched if Fata was not merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before the general election. He said leaders should not think of getting credit when faced with issues of national interest.

He maintained that the government had never considered improving the wellbeing of the people of Fata. “The lack of seriousness should be judged from the absence of educational and health facilities in the tribal region,” he added.

He said that people had to resort to protest when their demands were not met. The ANP chief said that most of the demands of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) were genuine and must be addressed. He said the situation worsened when the state blocked democratic and constitutional means for resolving issues.

He said the situation would not have deteriorated had Pakhtun soldiers been deployed in Fata. He said a single road connecting all the tribal agencies would have made the tribal areas economically stable and paved the way for a positive change in the area.

During his speech, Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that “Khwa” in Pashto meant heart and, therefore, the province was named Pakhtunkhwa. He said that terrorism in the region did not emerge spontaneously but was the result of the flawed state policies.

Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that late General Ziaul Haq facilitated the capitalist USA and turned Afghanistan into a battleground for the clash between the two ideologies. “They created the Mujahidin who later transformed into the Taliban while the bloodbath continued for the last 40 years,” he claimed.

He said his party leaders had contested General Ziaul Haq’s claim that it was a conflict between infidels and Muslims. “Our leaders had continuously told people that the war was between the Soviet Union and the US and Pakistan should stay out of it,” he added. ANP provincial President Ameer Haider Hoti, party’s spokesperson Zahid Khan, Bashir Ahmed Matta, Afrasiab Khattak and Aimal Wali Khan were also present on the occasion.