PESHAWAR: All Fata Political Parties Alliance president Sardar Khan has strongly criticised the federal government for using delaying tactics to implement recommendations of the Fata Reforms Committee and warned that workers of all the political parties would march on Islamabad next month and observe sit-in till acceptance of their demands.

Speaking at a press conference at Peshawar Press Club on Saturday, the alliance chief said that the federal government had formed the reforms committee with Sartaj Aziz as its head that visited parts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and consulted people. He said that over 70 per cent of tribesmen had demanded merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but the demand was yet to be accepted.

Sardar Khan, who is also Jamaat-i-Islami Fata chief, said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had changed his stance about scrapping FCR and merger of Fata with KP.

He said that the political parties, civil society organisations and tribal elders had repeatedly demanded implementation of the Fata reforms, but the government did not seem serious to approve the demands and now the people had the only option to launch protest demonstrations in Islamabad.

He said that JI as member of the alliance would observe sit-in outside the Governor House, Peshawar, on Aug 22 wherein party chief Senator Sirajul Haq would also participate. Similarly, a sit-in would be arranged outside the parliament when the National Assembly would be in session.

About grievances of the Fata people the alliance chief said that terrorism had made lives of the people miserable because the existing infrastructure had been destroyed and the facilities of health and education were next to nil.

The federal government, he said, was not sincere to give the people their due share in the national resources and that was why Fata had been ignored in the National Finance Commission award. He said that the federal government had received billions of rupees during the fight against terrorism, but Fata was ignored. He said that many internally displaced persons were still suffering in camps.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2017