BANNU: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Senator Sirajul Haq has said that the government should not delay the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Area with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and complete the process as soon as possible.

Addressing a public meeting at the Bannu Sports Complex on Sunday, he asked the government to hold local bodies elections in all the seven tribal agencies and six Frontier Regions.

He feared that despite the federal cabinet’s approval the government could use delaying tactics in implementation of the merger plan.

He said that five years timeframe for the merger was not acceptable.

Mr Haq said that anti-graft bodies, including the National Accountability Bureau, had become toothless and failed to stop corruption in the country. Inefficiency and inability of anti-graft bodies has forced the JI and other political parties to approach the Supreme Court, he added. He was optimistic that the apex court would give verdict based on justice in the Panama Leaks case.

The JI chief said that his party had also launched a countrywide drive against corruption and urged people to support it.

Expressing concern over lawlessness in the country, he said that ill-planned policies of the rulers had promoted violence. “The rulers’ lust for dollars made Pakistan insecure. First, Aimal Kansi and Yousaf Ramzi were handed over to foreign masters and then Dr Afia Siddiqui was given in the custody of America,” said Mr Haq, adding that corrupt and inefficient rulers had put the future of Pakistan at stake.

Speaking on the occasion, JI provincial chief Mushtaq Ahmad Khan said that Pakhtuns were being victimised though they had rendered huge sacrifices for restoration of peace in Pakistan.

He warned the Punjab and Sindh governments to stop harassment of Pakhtuns.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2017