PESHAWAR: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) provincial chief Maulana Attaur Rehman said here on Monday that federal government was acting like East India Company by taking over the resources of the province.

Addressing a press conference at JUI-F provincial headquarters Mufti Mehmood Markaz, he said that his party was opposing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mines and Mineral Bill, 2025, both in Senate and in provincial assembly. He said that the bill should have been initiated by the province.

“What is the purpose of 18th Amendment and provincial autonomy if centre has to dictate the bill,” he questioned. He said that government was trying to usurp the province’s rights by enacting the law.

Maulana Rehman said that JUI-F was opposing the law on every forum and would continue to raise its voice for the rights of the people of the province on every available forum.

To a question he said that JUI-F had opposed the bill, however, some of its members supported similar legislation in Balochistan. He said that central leadership of the party had taken its notice.

Maulana Rehman said that like East India Company, which took over the subcontinent by taking over its resources, federal government was also taking over the province’s resources.

He said that it would open ways for international companies and global powers and local investors and companies could not compete with them if centre took over province’s mines and mineral sector.

He said that the proposed legislation was targeting provincial autonomy. He said that JUI-F had submitted a resolution against the legislation in Senate and was also opposing the same in provincial assembly.

The JUI-F leader said that even the ruling party’s lawmakers were unaware about the true contents of the bill and whether or not it was in the interest of the province. He said that the current provincial government was harming the province’s interests.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2025