Making inroads: ‘If elected, PTI will make tribal areas a province’

“People from the tribal areas have been treated as second class citizens and black laws have been imposed on them,” said Dr Bashir, PTI’s chief organiser in Fata. PHOTO: FILE

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf has said that if it comes to power, it will give provincial status to the tribal areas which have been at the centre of the fight against militancy.

“People from the tribal areas have been treated as second class citizens and black laws have been imposed on them,” Dr Bashir, PTI’s chief organiser in Fata, said at a press conference on Friday, where he also announced that party chief Imran Khan is expected to visit the volatile tribal belt in September.

“The residents of tribal areas are innocent and patriotic people. But, on the one hand they are being killed by American drones and on the other they are being targeted by aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force,” Bashir said, referring to the killing of civilians on May 31, 2012 in PAF bombardment in Tirah Valley, Khyber Agency.

Criticising the government for its handling of the ongoing unrest in the tribal areas, he demanded an immediate end to military operations in tribal areas which he said have paralysed routine life and business activities in the area. “To grab more donations, the incompetent rulers of Pakistan are towing the line of the United States blindly.”

Responding to a question, he said that the number of civilians that have died in drone attacks has acceded that of high-profile al Qaeda militants who are the supposed target of the campaign. “Drone attacks are against international humanitarian laws and continue to violate Pakistan’s sovereignty.” The government, he said, must resolve conflict in tribal areas through negotiation as war is not a solution to the problem.

Dissatisfied over the living conditions of the Internally Displaced Persons, Dr Bashir said that the government has failed to provide tangible incentives to the affected people. According to the latest statistics of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, 11,000 families are living in the Jalozai Camp while 55,000 of these families are living off the camps.