LANDI KOTAL, July 23: Tribal elders, Maliks and political and social organizations in Fata have appealed to the military government to rescind the graduation condition for becoming a member of legislative assemblies and Senate for the candidates of the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas.

A survey, conducted by Dawn, shows that almost all the Maliks and elders from the Khyber Agency have rejected the graduation condition for becoming an MNA, an MPA or a senator.

Some of them even termed the government undemocratic and unconstitutional, saying that the government did not have the right to amend the 1973 constitution.

But educated people, though in minority, are supportive of the government decision and hoped that it would help bring forth educated and enlightened leadership from among the tribesmen.

Malik Darya Khan Zakhakhel, when asked to comment on the Supreme Court verdict, said education and experience were two different things, fearing that the condition would deprive the country of experienced politicians and elders.

These views were echoed by the leader of the Azad Qabail Movement, Malik Shakirullah Afridi, who termed the move a “conspiracy” against the experienced and shrewd politicians and tribal elders.  

No where in the world, such an unconstitutional law existed, he said, adding that the tribal elders and Maliks, though uneducated, were bold and possessed vast experience and knowledge of the tribal customs and traditions.

Malik Niamatullah Khan Shinwari, former MNA from the Khyber Agency, said he respected the Supreme Court decision, but its impacts on Fata would not be good.

He was of the view that it would be extremely difficult to find suitable candidates in the tribal areas, where literacy rate was very low.

Another former MNA and Fata’s Pakistan People’s Party chief organizer, Malik Waris Khan Afridi, came very hard on the government decision, saying that the government’s constitutional package was a negation of democratic norms.

Terming Gen Pervez Musharraf government unconstitutional, he said it had no right to amend the  constitution. He urged the government to repeal the graduation condition for tribal areas’ candidates.

Senior deputy chief of the Tanzeem Ahl-i-Sunnath wal Jamat, Allama Noor ul Haq Qadri, was of the  opinion that the graduation condition was in negation of the basic human rights.

Allama Qadri, who holds a masters degree in Islamiyat, said increasing the literacy rate in the tribal areas should have been the priority of the government.

Fata Advisory Council Chairman Ghani Gul Mehsood and Khyber Union Bazaar President Gul Afridi insisted that Fata was an underdeveloped area and thus should be exempted from the graduation condition.