PESHAWAR/LANDI KOTAL: The leaders of different political parties have rejected the recommendations of Fata Reforms Commission and demanded local government elections in Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

In Khyber Agency, Khyber Siyasi Ettehad, a conglomeration of different political parties, organised a big rally at Bacha Khan Chowk, Landi Kotal on Sunday to demand local government elections on party-basis in Fata.

The rally was largely attended by activists of major political parties and local tribesmen. The participants of the rally marched from Hospital Chowk through Landi Kotal Bazaar and converged at Bacha Khan Chowk.

Addressing the rally, the second of its type in Khyber Agency during the last three weeks, ANP parliamentary leader in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Sardar Hussain Babak said that holding such a rally in tribal areas was a clear manifestation of the political awareness of the people of Fata.

“Our party considers all the demands of KSE as legitimate and fully supports immediate holding of local bodies elections in Fata,” he said and suggested abolishment of Frontier Crimes Regulation.

Speaking on the occasion, JI provincial deputy chief Sahibzada Haroon Rasheed said that successive governments had kept Fata as a land without any constitutional rights as all political, democratic, constitutional and human rights were denied to tribal people under the FCR.

He said that Khyber Pakhtukhwa Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan committed political murder of tribal people by imposing on them a non-elected agency council on the recommendations of a committee, which had no representation from the tribal areas.

“The KSE totally rejects the proposed non-elected agency councils and it would never adhere to undemocratic and unconstitutional reforms recommended by a hand-picked and non-representative committee which had little knowledge of the wishes and aspirations of the people of Fata,” the JI leader said.

MNA Haji Shahji Gul said that all the Fata parliamentarians rejected the recommendations of the committee. He said that the powers to amend the existing system of Fata should be given to the elected representatives of Fata.

The rally was also addressed by local political leaders including Malik Darya Khan, Shah Hussain Shinwari, Abdur Raziq, Mufti Ejaz, Said Ghajan, Hazrat Wali, Said Alam and Zar Noor Afridi.

Meanwhile, the political leaders belonging to Mohmand Agency also rejected the recommendations of Fata Reforms Commission and demanded location government elections in the agency.

Talking to journalists in Peshawar, JUI-F leader Qari Mohammad Arif said that the Recommendations of the commission were meant to further strengthen the political administration and keep the tribal people deprived of their due rights. Accompanied by ANP leader Shabir Ahmed, PML-N leader Shakil Ahmed, JI leader Amir Khan and PTI’s Abdul Ghaffar, he said that they would not accept any law without consultation of the tribal elders.

“We are not ready to accept further empowerment of the political administration because the tribal regions are also part of the country and tribal people deserve to be given all the incentives on the pattern of settled districts,” he said.

Mr Arif said that said tribal people would be able to take part in the development of their area if local bodies elections were held in Fata. He said almost every family in Fata had lost its members and properties in incidents of terrorism but tribal people were not compensated so far.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2015

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