LANDI KOTAL: The participants of a group discussion have strongly opposed holding referendum on future status of Fata and warned against delay in merger of tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The event was organised at the local press club by Fata Research Centre as part of its survey report on the recommendations of Fata Reforms Commission presented to the federal government for approval.

Activists of almost all the mainstream political parties expressed their views on the occasion. Except the workers of JUI-F, almost all demanded merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa without any further delay.

They said that apart from the political parties and their activists in tribal areas, local ulemas, students and even women favoured immediate repeal of Frontier Crimes Regulation and extension of all the regular laws of the country to the tribal areas.

Jamaat-i-Islami leader Muqtadir Shah, PTI leader Abdur Raziq, PML-N leader Israr Khan, ANP representative Zarullah Shinwari, JUI-F leader Maulana Rehmatullah, student leader Aamir Afridi and some members of the civil society organisations participated in the daylong group discussion.

Malak Nadeem Afridi, a local elder, lauded Fata parliamentarians for supporting reforms in the century-old administrative and judicial system in tribal areas. He said that for the first time in the history of the country independent MNAs presented a bill in National Assembly to support reforms in the existing system.

JI leader Muqtadir Shah and PTI leader Abdur Raziq said that there was no need of a referendum for ascertaining the future status of Fata as almost all the elected parliamentarians supported the reforms package and merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

They termed the opponents of merger as opportunists and said that nobody would be allowed to deceive the people of Fata in the name of referendum and safeguarding the so-called tribal customs and traditions.

Presenting his party dissenting opinion on the merger plan, JUI-F leader Maulana Rehmatullah said that although his party was in favour of repeal of FCR yet it wanted all the people of Fata to give their opinion about future status of the region through a referendum.

“Our party is a major political force in Fata and no one can overrule our opinion and suggestions,” he said.

DRIVE: The Khyber Agency political administration has made elaborate security arrangements for the seven-day special anti-polio vaccination campaign in all the three tehsils of the agency.

Officials said that hundreds of personnel of Frontier Corps, Khasadar and Levies would be deployed in sensitive localities alongside providing security to 750 mobile and 200 supervisory teams throughout Khyber Agency during the campaign.

Local administration has also imposed a ban on pillion riding during the campaign and increased patrolling of the law enforcing agencies personnel. The ban on pillion riding was imposed after armed men riding a motor cycle killed a health worker in Jamrud during the previous vaccination campaign.

Special arrangements have also been made at Torkham border to administer anti-polio drops to all the Afghan children going back to their country.

Officials said that a total of 220,000 children under the age of five would be vaccinated during the campaign.

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2016