MIRAMSHAH: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Sunday that the sole purpose of National Action Plan (NAP) and merger of defunct Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was to appease India and America.

Addressing a big rally in Mirali town of North Waziristan tribal district, he said that his party had opposed both the NAP and merger of tribal districts with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Tahaffuz Namoos-i-Risalat rally was organised in the main town which was also addressed by Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, opposition leader in KP Assembly Akram Khan Durrani and other party leaders.

This was JUI-F’s first show of power in the militancy-hit district after its merger with the province in May 2018. The government will hold elections in the merged districts for the provincial assembly before July next. Preparations for the elections in seven merged districts and six sub-divisions are underway as several candidates have started their campaign.

Says merger has increased agony of tribal people

Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that at present neither Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) nor police system existed in the merged districts, which had created a complete legal and administrative vacuum in the erstwhile Fata.

“The sole purpose of merger was to appease America,” he said, adding that the neighbouring countries, including Afghanistan, had been annoyed over the decision. He said that people of tribal districts were already living miserable life and their agonies had increased after the merger.

He said that JUI-F was not in favour of NAP that was unveiled after the terrorist attack on Army Public School, Peshawar, on December 16, 2014. He claimed that the 20-point plan was introduced to pacify India. He said that nobody was taking notice of the rights violations in tribal districts. He added that the tribal people were not taken into confidence before the merger.

The JUI-F chief said that the sitting rulers would not be allowed to accomplish their hidden agenda that included recognition of Jewish state. He said that attacks on religious scholars were part of international agenda. He said that Mufti Taqi Usmani, who survived an assassination attempt in Karachi, was a neutral and non-controversial figure.

He said that seminaries and ulema were under attack across the country, adding that the government could not stop the caravan of Namoos-i-Risalat through such tactics. He claimed that the government was trying to promote indecency in society in the name of women’s rights.

The Maulana said that a fake government had been installed in the centre which could not take pressure. He alleged that the Indian pilot was set free under the US pressure.

He said that JUI-F had started organising million marches against what he called anti-state and anti-Islam policies of the government. He said that a rally would be organised in Khyber tribal district on April 21. He said that his party would also give a call for a million march in Islamabad.

WOUNDED: A man and his six-year-old daughter were wounded in a landmine explosion in Boya tehsil of North Waziristan tribal district on Sunday.

Officials said that Gul Dada and his daughter, Salma Bibi, were walking near Norra Manza checkpost when a landmine went off. Military personnel shifted the wounded persons to the hospital.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2019