Fata reforms: Asfandyar slams govt over ‘volte-face’

Addresses huge public gathering in Karachi

KARACHI: Awami National Party President Asfandyar Wali Khan on Sunday criticised the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government for backtracking on its pledge to merge the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

“The federal cabinet has approved the recommendations -- that enjoy a broad political consensus -- of the FATA Reforms Committee, but Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is continuously lying about it,” he said while addressing a huge public gathering at Walika Ground in SITE.

The large number of people participated in the gathering impressed the ANP president who said this must have surprised the party detractors who brushed it as a dead party, adding the good show had sent a clear message to them that the party was very much alive.



“Those who think that the ANP has lost its popular support and is no more a vibrant party should see the number of people present today,” Wali said while referring to the people present to listen to him.

Expressing anger over delay in enacting Fata reforms, the ANP president said that the matter had been left in limbo, and added “There should be no doubt that Fata will become part of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.”

“The premier is forgetting his promises,” Wali said.

He also criticised Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s Mehmood Khan Achakzai for not raising the issues of people of Fata “yet they claim to be the leaders of the Pukhtuns”.



He said both the leaders were slaves of the ‘Britishers’ and their system and vowed to continue the struggle for the rights of the people of Fata. “People will soon see the merger of Fata with K-P”.

Pointing out loopholes in the political and administrative system of the country, Wali expressed that a lot of blood had been spilled due to the defective system.

“We need to structure our foreign and interior policies.”

“Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar should tell how successful he has been in implementing the National Action Plan,” Wali said and added: “Tehreek-e-Taliban’s spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan is a terrorist and therefore he should be hanged because he was responsible for killing our innocent children and people.”

Criticising Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan and his party’s government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Wali said: “He should focus on governance rather than staging useless protests and sit-ins.”

He added that his own party members had been raising fingers on corruption of the party and asked “has he taken any on the accusations?”