PESHAWAR: The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s Fata chapter will organise a tribal youth conference in Peshawar on Oct 14 (Saturday) to push for declaring the tribal region a separate province, and warned the party workers and tribal youth will stage a sit-in outside the provincial assembly if the district administration didn’t allow them to organise the event.

Speaking a news conference at the press club here on Tuesday, JUI-F Fata emir Mufti Abdul Shakoor said the party had decided to organise a youth conference and a protest outside Governor House.

But, he said the district administration had asked them to organise the event either in Qayyum Sports Complex or Malik Tehmas Khan Stadium to avoid any inconvenience to the general public.

Flanked by JUI-F Fata general secretary Mufti Ejaz Shinwari, provincial secretary information Haji Jalil Jan and other tribal leaders, Mufti Shakoor said the party had now decided to hold the event in Malik Tehmas Khan Stadium where tribal people, especially youngsters, would discuss their region’s future.

The JUI-F leader claimed a large number of youth from different agencies of Fata would participate in the conference, which would be chaired by JUI-F central emir Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Mufti Shakoor contended that the proposed plan to merge Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was a nefarious agenda of US, which could not be accomplished.

He added his party had rejected it because the very people who carried out bombardment over the Fata people could not be sincere with the tribesmen.

“The JUI-F will strongly oppose any decision against aspirations of the people of tribal region,” he declared.

Mufti Shakoor demanded that the Fata should be declared as separate entity instead to ‘truly’ serve the people.

“We will continue struggle for repeal of FCR and declaration of Fata as separate province in a democratic manner,” the JUI-F leader vowed. He said there was no constitutional hurdle in holding referendum on the region’s future.

He said most of the people who participated in the protest in Islamabad for Fata-KP merger did not belong to the tribal region.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2017