PESHAWAR, May 30: Tribal elders hailing from different agencies have called upon the government to carve out a separate province encompassing the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Friday, a little known group of tribesmen claiming to be elders from the seven tribal agencies, said the federal government should either give the status of an independent province to Fata or establish a Fata elected council on the pattern of the Northern Areas elected council.

Reading out a paper, containing demands of tribesmen, Maulana Mohammad Ismail from the Orakzai Agency asked the government to initiate development projects in Fata, where people were caught in a cycle of violence and destruction.

Tribal elders from Mohmand, Bajaur, Khyber and South Waizristan were present on the occasion, but not a single tribesman from the Kurram Agency attended the event. “Our people are being killed for nothing.

We have purchased 100kg sack of flour for Rs9,500. So for, 16 children have died of chest congestion because the Parachinar district hospital is without oxygen cylinder. Miscreants have closed the main road by erecting a wall in the middle of it near Sadda,” said a tribesman from Parachinar, who didn’t attend the news conference.

Mr Ismail, however, said a grand jirga was being formed, which would hold talks with hostile factions in the Kurram Agency to restore peace in the violence-hit agency.

He said talks were the only way for ensuring peace in Fata. He said the government should focus on the process of negotiations, rather than going for other options.

He urged the government to set up separate degree colleges for girls and boys, vocational institutes, commerce and technical colleges in all the agencies.

Mr Ismail said the government should build a Fata highway passing through the seven agencies. He said such a project would boost business and trade among the tribal enclave.

He said three universities, including medical and engineering, and cadet colleges should be established in Fata because education was the only way which could lead tribesmen out of illiteracy and backwardness. He said the Fata people should be given quota in federal government and semi-government departments and they should be engaged in the development process.

He said the families of tribesmen who had been killed in aerial strikes and the military operation should be given compensation.

He said the Political Parties Act should be extended to Fata so that tribesmen could join mainstream political parties. “We want extension of the political process to Fata, which has been denied the right of representation in the provincial assembly,” he added.

He also called upon the government to announce a development package for Fata.