PESHAWAR/SHANGLA: Jamaat-i-Islami has demanded of the federal government to withdraw Customs Act from Malakand division otherwise the party will stage a sit-in outside Parliament House in Islamabad.

Addressing a joint press conference in Peshawar, JI provincial chief Mushtaq Ahmad Khan and Senior Minister Inayatullah Khan said that parliamentarians, MPAs and nazims of the party would resign from their positions if the government did not revoke the Act in Malakand division comprising seven districts.

Finance Minister Muzafar Said, Minister for Religious Affairs Habibur Rehman and other leaders of the party were also present at the press conference.

Mushtaq termed extension of the Act to the area a “death warrant” for the people of Malakand and said that JI would not accept the decision.

Shangla parties announce strike against extension of the law to Malakand

He said that JI would take movement against extension of the law to the region to its logical end. “JI will quit the provincial government and its members will also resign from the assemblies and district councils if the government does not accept its demand,” he added.

Announcing future line of action, Mushtaq said that the party would observe shutter down strike on Wednesday, wheel jam strike on August 5 and sit-in outside Parliament House on August 10 against the unilateral decision. He said that other political parties and trade unions were also against the extension of the Act to Malakand.

The JI leader said that natural and man-made disasters had badly affected Malakand. He said that reconstruction of infrastructure needed Rs70 billion according to the World Bank survey while the government had released only Rs2 billion so far.

He asked central government to announce Rs500 billion development package for the area.

A Multi-Party Conference in Shangla rejected the imposition of Customs Act in Malakand and announced shutter down and wheel jam strike in the district on Monday.

The conference was organised by Shangla action committee at the district barroom in Alpuri. The local leaders of different political parties and representatives of traders attended the conference.

Mutawakel Khan of QWP, Haji Sadeedur Rehman of ANP, Doctor Afsarurl Mulk of PPP, Eng Abdul Tawab of PTI, Najimullah of JI, Mohammad Yar Khan of JUI-F and Jawad Ali Noor, the chairman of Shangla action committee, addressed the conference.

They rejected imposition of Customs Act in Malakand, saying the region was affected badly by militancy and floods during the last 10 years.

They said that local traders also suffered huge losses due to militancy and natural disasters. The imposition of Customs Act would multiply their miseries.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2016