SWABI: The participants of a multi-party conference (MPC) here on Wednesday said that passage of Mines and Minerals Bill from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly would automatically undo 18th Amendment, which guaranteed provincial autonomy and right of provinces over their resources.

The MPC, convened by Awami National Party, was attended by leaders of PPP, PML-N, JUI-F, QWP, PWP, PkMAP and JI besides representatives of business community, different unions, analysts and intellectuals.

The ANP leaders said that they had invited Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leaders and lawmakers to the event because they were elected by people so they should play their due role to prevent ‘looting of natural resources of the province’.

“I don’t know what they (PTI leaders) were having in their mind. Why they failed to attend the conference. We have completed our task to visit their residences according to Pakhtun traditions while inviting them,” said ANP district president Asifur Rehman.

Advocate Arshad Ali Yousafzai, central senior deputy chairman of PkMAP, said that disunity among Pakhtuns shattered their dreams of progress and prosperity. “That’s the reason that our rights and natural resources have been devoured by federal government and other federal units,” he added.

Advocate Salim Khan, former provincial general secretary of ANP, said that natural resources of the province were under threat. “Mines and Minerals Bill has been sent to KP, Balochistan and Punjab assemblies but its main objective is to deprive KP of its natural resources,” he said.

Masood Jabar, former provincial deputy general secretary of QWP, called for abolishment of Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), saying it harmed the interests of small provinces and created division among people of the country.

“Mines and Minerals Bill should not be linked with releasing Imran Khan, former prime minister, from prison. Rights of people should not be sacrificed for PTI founder,” he said.

Javed Inqilabi, divisional general secretary of PPP, said that uniting all Pakhtuns on a single platform was a prerequisite for protecting natural resources of the province. “Mines and Minerals Bill withdrawal needs cohesion, termination and a complete devotion. This is time to rise against usurpers,” he added.

Frontier Mines Owners Association leaders said that they faced numerous problems because Swabi tehsil government imposed unjust taxes on them that forced them to file a petition in Peshawar High Court.

At the end of the conference, a declaration was adopted to demand withdrawal of Mines and Minerals Bill. The declaration urged Pakhtuns to shun differences, give up opposing each other and work together to foil those, who devised plans to keep them backward.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2025