Pakistan tribal elders seek reversal of FATA-KP merger, says done without people's consent

Tribal elders of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in Pakistan are seeking reversal of province merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) saying that it was done without people's consent.

Member National Assembly (MNA) Mufti Abdul Shakoor and former federal minister Hameedullah Jan said on Sunday that the FATA merger was done without the consent of tribal people, reported The News International.

Abdul Shakoor said that Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) had been against the FATA-KP merger from the very outset.

"We will continue to oppose whether it's in the form of meetings or jirgas," he added.

He also said that the tribal system was a system of jirgas in which everyone gets justice and rights, but added that other areas did not have this system.

Hamidullah Jan told the media that the FATA merger was a fraud against the tribal people, reported The News International.

"We can't tolerate this merger because it is a system of oppression that has been imposed on us by force but we will not allow it to be imposed on our tribal brethren in any form. We will take all legal means against it," he added.

He said that the tribal rights from Waziristan up to Bajaur would hold jirgas against the FATA merger.

"Our tribal system is much better than the police and judiciary system because everyone has their due right in it," he said and demanded the government to immediately reverse the merger.

Pakistan ended the separate status of erstwhile FATA and merged it with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.

( With inputs from ANI )

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