QUETTA: The Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) on Friday rejected the reforms approved by the government for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

“The federal cabinet’s decision regarding the status of Fata is illegal and unconstitutional,” the party said in a statement, adding that according to the Constitution, the status of Fata had always remained “constitutionally independent”.

It insisted that it had always been the right of people to take a decision about any change in the status of Fata. “No one can take this right. Any decision taken by any other institution will not be accepted as legal or constitutional.”

People of Fata had been demanding democratic changes in every sector and wanted their rights to be accepted, it said. The PkMAP alleged that the rulers had for a long time deprived the people of Fata of their democratic right to rule themselves and the area had deliberately been kept backward.

The party’s ‘policy statement’ further complained that the rulers, instead of introducing democratic reforms and giving Fata’s people their rights, had imposed the war on terrorism and made the area a hub of international terrorism.

Tens of thousands of people had been displaced in Fata due to economic and trade destruction in the region, it said. “People want restoration of peace and revival of economic activities,” the statement said.

It demanded return of the displaced people and restoration of peace and democratic order.

The party said it would not allow the imposition of such unconstitutional reforms and “making the people of Fata slaves”. It appealed to all democratic parties and forces to reject the reforms proposed by a committee constituted by the government and struggle for the rights of Fata’s people.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2017