KHAR: All Bajaur Political Parties Alliance has threatened to launch a protest movement if the government fails to announce reforms package for Fata before August 14.

In this connection, a meeting of All Bajaur Political Parties Alliance was held here on Monday with its senior vice president Haji Sardar Khan in the chair. The meeting was attended by leaders and representatives of various political and religious parties. The participants of the meeting showed their grave concerns over delay in announcing the reforms package for Fata by the federal government. They said that delay in the reforms was a matter of great concern for tribal people, especially for political activists.

They demanded of the prime minister to announce the reforms package before August 14 so that people of tribal areas could celebrate Independence Day with zeal and zest.

“The people of tribal areas celebrate Independence Day every year but announcement of the reforms package will double their joy,” they said.

The participants of the meeting said that implementation of reforms package was necessary to end concerns among the tribal people as repeal of Frontier Crimes Regulation was their longstanding demand.

“Tribal people want the government to implement the proposed reforms package as soon as possible. They are not ready to tolerate the colonial system of governance in their areas anymore,” they said. They demanded of the government to merge Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhawa as it was necessary for development of the tribal areas.

The participants of the meeting also showed concerns over ban on motorcycle riding in the agency. They asked the administration to lift immediately ban on motorcycle riding in the region.

The representatives of political parties also expressed grave concerns over arresting of innocent people in the name of collective territorial responsibility clause of FCR.

The participants of the meeting claimed that the local administration was arresting innocent people only to get money from them in the name of collective and territorial responsibility.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2016