By Ashrafuddin Pirzada
PESHAWAR: Announcing full support of twelve million tribal people to raise voice for Fata residents, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami party chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai categorically rejected the Fata merger as unconstitutional, urging restoration of its previous status here on Wednesday.
Opposition parties nominated the leader of the opposition in the national assembly and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai while speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of newly elected office bearers of Fata Loya Jirga members. He declared the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa unconstitutional and against the wishes of millions of tribal people.
Achakzai said the merger was carried out without consulting the residents of Fata. He said only the 18th Amendment was acceptable and that any changes made beyond it would not be recognized by his party or the people of the tribal districts.
Achakzai emphasized that the merger had failed to bring peace or development to the region, instead deepening unrest and undermining traditional tribal systems. He demanded restoration of Fata’s previous status and protection of its cultural and administrative identity.
Fata Loya Jirga chairman Bismillah Khan Afridi also called the merger “illegal,” saying that peace prevailed before the merger but terrorism and instability emerged afterward. He urged the government to reverse the decision and respect the will of the tribal people.
A large number of tribal elders, Jameat Ulema-e-Islam(F) leaders, anti-merger activists and tribesmen from all merged districts attended the ceremony.
Tribal elders Malik Afrasiyab Afridi, Malik Abdur Razaq Zakhakhel, Ezzatullah Hamkhial, Amir Wazir, and Malik Khan Marjan rejected the merger, terming it a conspiracy to abolish tribal customs, ravaj and the jirga system.
Ezzatullah Hamkhial condemned the ongoing violence in Tirah, saying innocent residents were being killed, and urged unity among tribal people to continue their legal and peaceful struggle for rights.
The speakers said that their legal fight would continue till the reversal of the Fata merger.
