Tribal elders oppose Fata-KP merger

GHALLANAI: The tribesmen hailing from various villages of Baizai area in Mohmand tribal district at a jirga on Tuesday opposed the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Addressing the grand Jirga, tribal elders of Baizai subdivision, including Malik Nadir Manan Kudakhel, Malik Sultan Atmarkhel, Malik Ziarat Gul and Malik Ahmad Khwezai, said that tribespeople had rendered matchless sacrifices for the defence of the country and had been protecting the border for the last seventy years without getting any salary or other privileges.

They said the federal government did not consult the tribal elders over the passage of the Fata merger bill and implemented it in undue haste.

The speakers maintained that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was a less developed province and could not bear the burden of the tribal region while merging Fata with KP will increase the grievances of the tribesmen.