PESHAWAR: A tribal jirga here on Wednesday asked the government to restore peace in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) before introducing reforms in the tribal system.

The participants of the jirga threatened that they would not accept any kind of reforms in Fata if peace was not restored there. The jirga was convened by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl at its provincial secretariat with Maulana Fazlur Rehman in the chair. Elders belonging to different tribal regions attended the jirga.

The elders decided that next meeting of the jirga would be held after Muharram to chalk out future line of action. They asked the government to first restore peace in Fata and then take up other issues including reforms otherwise they would resist any move in that regard.

“No one else has the right to decide our fate but we ourselves will decide our future,” the tribal elders said. They said that government should take steps for early rehabilitation of the displaced persons, announce a comprehensive package for them and stop launching a new military operation in Fata.

Prominent among the participants of the jirga were Malik Shah Nawaz, Malik Khan Marjan, Malik Indullah Haqqani, Malik Mirza Khan, Malik Haji Sher Mohammad, Senator Maulana Saleh Shah, MNA Maulana Jamaluddin, Maulana Abdur Rasheed, Malik Bahadur Shah, Maulana Sultan Wazir, Mufit Ijaz, Maulana Shujaul Mulk an Maulana Abdul Jalil.

Elders say they themselves will |decide their future

Speaking on the occasion, JUI-F emir Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that war and operation were no solution to any issue. He said that the United States of America was serving its own interests and imposing wars on other nations.

He said that it was a war of crusades because the United States had already announced that 20the century was of United Kingdom and the 21st century was of America.

The JUI-F chief said that after targeting different countries like Libya, Syria, Iraq and Palestine the United States wanted to launch second phase of the war in Pakistan’s tribal belt and in Afghanistan to change their geographical boundaries.

Mr Rehman said that his party leadership was targeted through suicide bombers for the only reason that it was resisting the western civilisation and the war against Islam. He said that his party could not be deterred from the right path and would continue its struggle for enforcement of Islamic system in the country.

“We will not accept any decision regarding merging Fata into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa unless the tribal elders are taken into confidence,” Mr Rehman said. He asked the government to start rehabilitation of the IDPs as South Waziristan Agency had been cleared.

He said that the future of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Imran Khan was bleak because he was working on western agenda. He urged the government to take decisions about Fata in consultation with tribal elders. He said that any unilateral decision would not be acceptable to JUI-F and the tribal jirga.

Published in Dawn, October 30th , 2014