Tribal loyal Jirga decided to block the Afghanistan-Pakistan highway at Jamrud Bypass to register their protest against the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) without the consent of all tribes and people.
A protest camp is already going near the Jamrud Bypass against the merger of FATA with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, reported Pak vernacular media, Aeen.
Jirga elders Afarsayab Afridi, Sher Bahadur Afridi and others said that the FATA merger was a conspiracy to capture the natural resources in the region which is unacceptable and people of FATA have been made slaves under a conspiracy which we will not tolerate.
They demanded that illegal taxes should be revoked, the number of seats in the National Assembly and the Senate should be reinstated and tribal cultures and values should be restored, else, FATA should be made a separate province, reported Daily Pakistan.
The people of FATA are facing lots of trouble since the merger with KP. Tribal people are not at all happy even after three years of merger and are not satisfied with the measures and policies adopted by the governments as their problems are increasing day by day, reported Pak vernacular media.
Many tribes prefer Jirga over the judiciary for settling their issues. People against FATA’s merger with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are getting active in this situation and are trying to convince tribes that the merger was a mistake and the results are in front.
In the tribal system, all decisions were taken according to local customs and practices, providing immediate and timely justice to the people. These decisions, it is noteworthy, were also gladly accepted by all parties involved.
The government had forgotten the promises made to the people of FATA before the merger and those who used to take credit for this merger are now silent, reported local media.
A former special force of FATA is complaining with its 22 points that the government has not fulfilled its promises, demanding that the government should cater to all the benefits of the merger by spending developmental funds for resolving the problems of tribal people.
The educated and politically active people had thought that the merger would bring them into the national stream but it has proved wrong for now, reported local media.
On May 21, 2018, Pakistan made FATA part of KP under the 25th Amendment to reform tribal areas and to bring it within constitutional jurisdiction, but rather than solving the problem, it has become an obstacle in the way of development.
Rifatullah Orakzai, writing in Friday Times of Naya Daur said that despite being mainstreamed under the Pakistani constitution, former FATA remains marred by lawlessness. The vacuum used by terror outfits is still volatile, with the locals being troubled by draconian policies.
Tribal people who have been relocated to the area complain of delays in hearing property cases and high expenses. Sahibzada Bahauddin, a local journalist from Bajaur tribal district, can’t help but juxtapose the systems pre- and post-FATA’s merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“The jirga system was better: money was spent in it too but at least justice was provided immediately,” Bahauddin told Naya Daur Media.
He said the promises made by the government to the tribal people have not been fulfilled, and hence the locals are disappointed. He insists many locals think they have been hard done by and also reiterates that the previous system was cheaper and quicker.