PESHAWAR: The Fata Political Alliance on Thursday threatened to launch a countywide agitation campaign if the government didn`t announce merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the eve of Independence Day (Aug 14).

Addressing a press conference at Peshawar Press Club, the alliance president Iqbal Khan Afridi said that the merger of Fata with KP was essential to resolve the problems of people of the tribal region.

He said that the committee formed by the government some two year ago for streamlining of Fata had mentioned in its report that around 71 per cent of tribal people favoured the merger.

Flanked by ANP leader Nisar Mohmand and representatives of other political parties, he demanded abolition of the British-era Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) in the tribal region.

He also demanded of the federal government to amend the Constitution`s Article 247, observing that the article had deprived the Fata residents of fundamental human rights.

Mr Afridi said that FCR in Fata must be abolished to give the tribal people their constitutional, political and fundamental rights.

He termed formation of the federal government`s committee a futile exercise, saying that the real stakeholders were not taken on board during the consultation process.

He asked the government to share the report of Fata Reforms Committee with the Fata Political Alliance and tribal people before its implementation in tribal region.

He strongly supported the merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He alleged large-scale misappropriation of foreign aid and development funds in Fata due to lack of any monitoring system.

The alliance president called for mainstreaming of Fata through bringing legal and political reforms and incorporating appropriate amendments into the Article 247 for provision of legal and constitutional rights to the tribal people.

He alleged that Fata had deliberately been kept backward while the people still lacked basic facilities like education, health and others.

Mr Afridi criticised the government for making poor arrangements for the internally displaced persons at their makeshift camps and the slow process of repatriation.