CHARSADDA: Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao has said all political parties have agreed on the merger of Fata with KP believing it will not only boost socioeconomic development of Pakhtuns but also bring unity among them.

Addressing a function in Tangi area here on Saturday, the QWP chairman said the Fata-KP merger was a political issue and even Islam preached unity and progress of the people.

Without naming names, he said some religio-political leaders were falsely portraying the merger as a religious issue as they had failed to point out anything that went against Sharia.

Sherpao says some leaders falsely depicting merger as a religious issue

Mr Sherpao said ‘such elements’ had also objected to the formation of military courts for the trial of militants with the intent to serve own political ends.

He said the people had seen the true colours of such religio-political leaders.

The QWP chairman said the population census should be conducted in a fair and transparent manner so that it could ensure the true representation of the people in parliament, correct allocation of development funds, and provision of services to the federating units.

He rejected the use of pencil for counting, assessment and calculation of census data and alleged it would be used for data manipulation.Mr Sherpao warned that the census manipulation meant to deny Pakhtuns the due rights wouldn’t be tolerated.He demanded that the data counting machine be immediately shifted to Peshawar.

The QWP chairman hailed the Pak- Afghan dialogue in London and said meaningful and purposeful negations would help resolve the tensions between the two neighbours and handle the issue of terrorism.

He said it was in the interest of the entire region that Islamabad and Kabul amicably settle all issues.

Mr Sherpao said drastic efforts should be made to enhance Pak-Afghan trade and eliminate terrorism in the region.He demanded the immediate reopening of the Pak-Afghan border to ease the misery of the people of the two countries.

Earlier, the QWP chairman inaugurated various development schemes including Prang Ghar Road, Sherpao Shakh Road, Tatoonu Bridge in Tangi.

He said the schemes would improve the life of the people.“We (QWP) believe in the development of the local people for their progress,” he said.

Senior provincial minister Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao also addressed the function.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2017