LANDI KOTAL: Activists of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F and tribal elders affiliated with Fata Grand Alliance demonstrated here on Sunday against the merger of the tribal region with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Speaking on the occasion, JUI-F candidate from NA-43 Mufti Ejaz, Malak Salahuddin, Mirajuddin Shinwari and Malak Abdur Razzaq said that the merger plan would deprive tribal students of their legitimate quota in educational institutions, professional colleges and of jobs.

They said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in connivance with the federal government wanted to unlawfully take control of unexplored natural resources of tribal areas.

The speakers said the merger was imposed on the people at the behest of some foreign powers and that the tribesmen would not succumb to any pressure. They said the tribesmen wanted either an independent legislative council or a separate province instead of the region’s merger with KP.

They said the tribesmen would start demonstrations in Fata and all major cities of Pakistan if the merger plan was not reversed.

“The JUI-F will strive to annul the 25th Constitutional Amendment if the party came to power in KP and won enough seats in the National Assembly,” Mufti Ejaz said on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2018