PESHAWAR: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman has rejected all efforts of the government to resolve the issue of Federally Administrated Tribal Area (FATA) – be it merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) or an extension of the federal government. During a press conference after attending a 75-member jirga at the JUI-F Secretariat on Monday, Fazlur Rehman demanded the government to establish a ‘Supreme Council’ to decide FATA’s future according to the best options available to the government. “The FATA Supreme Council will consist of 35 members whose selection will be done by already established jirga of 75 tribesmen, who will attend a grand jirga on November 9 in Lahore to further take up the issues with other political parties and the government,” he added. He said that all political parties had moved away from the original decision, which was taken at all parties’ conference in Islamabad. “The government needs to reconsider the issue of FATA keeping in view the wishes of tribal people. The people of FATA had never demanded a merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Political parties have created hype in the media to complicate the issue,” he maintained. He said that all political parties needed to reconsider their stance on FATA, as the demand for a separate province was also making rounds in the circles concerned. He advised political parties not to politicise the FATA issue. He slammed those who blamed him for not accepting the decision of KP-FATA merger.
Published in Daily Times, November 7th 2017.
