Promises with erstwhile FATA went unmet: Siraj

JI chief says infrastructure in the tribal areas had been totally destroyed

LAHORE: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq has said that the people of tribal areas are the benefactors of Pakistan but none of the promises made to them at the time of merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been fulfilled.

Addressing the tribal elders at Inayat Kale in Bajaur, the JI emir remarked that the tribal people had played a fundamental role in the struggle for independence of Kashmir.

Haq lamented that though the tribal people were still shedding their blood for the country, the government had not delivered on their commitments to them.

The JI chief pointed out that the infrastructure in the tribal areas had been totally destroyed and schools, colleges and hospitals were demolished. The residents were moving to other places because of poverty and lack of basic facilities.

“The federal cabinet had decided to give three percent of total revenue to erstwhile Fata under the National Finance Commission Award. This was beside a package of Rs100 billion for building and rehabilitation of the infrastructure. However, these funds had not been released due to which the tribal people are having a feeling of deprivation and neglect,” he said.

He noted that the area needed schools and colleges for girls on priority basis along with a university.

Haq observed that there was no medical college or university in the former tribal areas due to which the students had to come to Peshawar. He demanded that industries should be established in the area so that poverty could be alleviated and employment opportunities provided to the people.

He said the people of erstwhile Fata must be given their due share in the CPEC projects so that there was no bias or hatred against the centre or provincial governments.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2019.