Petition against merger: Elders want govt to stop executing projects in ex-Fata

BARA: The Khyber Qaumi Jirga on Saturday urged the provincial government to stop development projects in ex-Fata till the decision of the Supreme Court in the petition against the merger.

Speaking at a press conference here on Saturday, chairman of Khyber Qaumi Jirga Bismillah Jan Afridi and others said that merger was done in violation of the constitution.

Malik Zahir Shah Afridi, Malik Muhammad Amin, Malik Zar Muhammad, Malik Tamash Shalmani and others were present on the occasion.

They stated that on September 23, the Supreme Court admitted petition for hearing against the merger of ex-Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Bismillah Jan said the Khyber Qaumi Jirga had also informed former Chief Justice Supreme Court Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and Advocate of the Supreme Court Wasim Sajjad about all the complexities and different angles of merger.

He said the Supreme Court had made former MNAs, the federal and provincial governments parties in the case.

The elder added the Supreme Court had issued notices to the attorney general and advocate general in the case.

“We support reforms and made recommendations to the Sartaj Aziz Committee,” he said.

He urged the provincial government to stop executing development projects in ex-Fata till the Supreme Court decision in the case as it amounted to contempt of court.

“The government is taking more interest in building police stations than repairing the damaged infrastructure there,” Bismillah said.

He asked the government to rebuild the destroyed houses, educational institutions, business centres and provide employment opportunities to tribal youth.