PESHAWAR: Chieftains of various tribal agencies here today [Feb 16] criticised the extension of the police act to the Malakand Agency, and appealed to the Government to withdraw the act immediately. Addressing a joint Press conference, Malik Jehangir Khan, MNA-elect, and Malik Aliman Shah, a former MNA, said that the people of the Malakand Agency had resented the extension of the act to their areas. Since it was the negation of the Government’s assurance that the “status quo” would be maintained in the tribal belt, therefore, the act be withdrawn, they asserted. Quoting various treaties and the safeguards provided for the tribal people in the 1956 and 1962 constitutions, the tribal Maliks maintained that “settled issues” should not be made a point of controversy.

… “If no steps were taken in this behalf, the tribesmen will launch a peaceful movement to get their demands fulfilled,” they added. In reply to a question, Malik Jehangir said that if the centre, under a future set up, was stripped of its financial powers, the 70 lakh tribesmen would be constrained to demand a “separate province”.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2021