PESHAWAR: The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl has renewed opposition to the proposed merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and said it won’t allow the execution of such proposals.

JUI-F Fata chief Mufti Abdul Shakoor Betani told reporters at the Peshawar Press Club on Monday that his party won’t accept any move against aspirations of tribal people, and it would continue struggle to give status of separate province to tribal regions.

“We’ll foil any attempt to merge Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is a conspiracy hatched against Fata and KP people,” he said.

Accompanied by other leaders of the party’s Fata chapter including Mufti Ejaz Shinwari, Ahmad Saeed Dawar and Qari Jihad Shah, the JUI-F leader criticised political parties favouring the Fata-KP merger saying they’re working against the will of the majority of the tribal people.

He said his party would continue to fight for the rights of tribal people at all levels as the strongest political force of the region.

Leader insists the proposal part of a foreign agenda

Mr. Betani declared the Fata-KP integration part of a foreign agenda and warned the federal government against going for it.

He said the Safron secretary should not push Fata people into darkness by advocating for the merger plan. The JUI-F leader claimed around 80 per cent of Fata people opposed their region’s merger with KP. He said the federal government should respect the opinion of the tribal people and keep from taking unilateral decision on the future of their areas.

Mr. Betani said his party had opposed the recommendations of Fata reforms committee in parliament for being against the desires of the Fata people and therefore, such recommendations should be acted upon.

He said he was hopeful that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his cabinet members would fulfil promises made with the JUI-F leadership over the future of Fata.

“We hope that the government will respect the opinion of Fata people about their future. We won’t allow the government to keep tribal people underprivileged,” he said. The JUI-F leader said his party would continue struggle for securing the status of a separate province for Fata.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2017