MOHMAND: Political parties here the other day rejected the provincial government’s Mines and Minerals Bill, declaring it a ‘direct assault’ on provincial autonomy and people’s rights.

The development came during a multi-party conference held by the Awami National Party (ANP) at the hujra of general councillor Malik Nadeem in Halimzai tehsil here.

The moot was attended by representatives of the ANP, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Jamaat-i-Islami and Pakistan Peoples Party, lawyers and tribal elders.

In the joint declaration, participants categorically rejected the bill, saying the proposed law violates the 18th Constitutional Amendment, which grants provinces the authority over their natural resources and reinforces the supremacy of the provincial assembly.

According to the declaration, the bill is seen as an attempt by the federal government to take control over the province’s mineral resources, an unconstitutional move that undermines the trust and balance between the federation and the provinces.

“The conference deems the bill, introduced through the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), a deliberate effort by the federal government and military establishment to monopolise control over the minerals sector,” the declaration said, rejecting the move in entirety as a conspiracy.

The MPC demanded that all institutions operate within their constitutional limits and completely rejected the military’s involvement in national politics.

It urged the provincial assembly to unanimously oppose the bill and pursue a legal and constitutional struggle against it.

“If the bill is forcibly implemented, we will launch a mass protest movement,” it said.

The speakers, including JUI-F district emir Maulana Arif Haqqani, Jamaat-i-Islami district emir Saeed Khan, ANP Mohmand president Malik Saifullah, former MPA Nisar Mohmand, advocate Hazrat Khan and Mohmand Bar Association general secretary Bashir Ahamd Safi, emphasised that the bill was part of a foreign-backed agenda to initiate an economic war using new tactics.

They insisted that the people won’t allow their resources to be taken over.

The conference concluded with all political leaders from Mohmand expressing full support to opponents of the bill in the province and pledged unity in the public struggle against it.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2025