Thousands of people from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and members of a number of political parties on Monday descended on Islamabad's D-Chowk, a roundabout just outside the Red Zone, to demand the early merger of the tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Awami National Party, PPP, Jamaat-i-Islami, and the Qaumi Watan Party participated in the rally.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, however, has not joined the protest. Yesterday, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the FATA-KP merger issue was being used by certain elements for political gains.

Among the demands put forward is the representation of tribal people in the KP Assembly and convening of a meeting of the Council of Common Interests on the matter. The protesters are also seeking amendments to the Constitution to extend the jurisdiction of the superior courts to Fata.

The demonstrators said that their protest will continue till President Mamnoon Hussain signs the Fata merger into law.

The people's decision

A number of political leaders addressed the rally at D Chowk.

"The decision to merge Fata with KP has been made by the people of Fata," ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan said, asking the government to have "mercy" and abolish the Frontier Crimes Regulation.

PPP leader Syed Akhunzada Chattan said that the people of Fata had no peace and their human rights were being violated.

"There is havoc in Fata," Chattan said, demanding that Fata be given it's right to the National Finance Commission award. He said the government is yet to announce a budget for Fata.

If the government had implemented the reforms, this day would not have come, Chattan added.

Jamiat Ulama-i-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq said that "some people in Islamabad do not believe that Fata is part of Pakistan."

Earlier in the week, announcements were made in all the tribal agencies appealing for the people to go to Islamabad to make their demands known. Thousands of people from the tribal areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are still expected to join the rally. People from Khyber, Bajaur, Mohmand and the Frontier Regions of Kohat and Peshawar are expected to come to the toll plaza to join the main rally.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan had also directed his party workers, MNAs and MPAs to take part in the protest. During a press conference in Peshawar on Friday, Imran had demanded a Fata-KP merger before the 2018 general elections.

Demands for the merger have been gaining momentum since Aug 2016, when a six-member committee headed by then advisor to the prime minister, Sartaj Aziz, had tabled a report before the cabinet that recommended major reforms, including the merger of the areas with KP.

The report had generated controversy when two allies of the federal government – JUI-F and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party – opposed the committee report.