PESHAWAR: The Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) has also backed the idea of merger of Fata into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and termed it vital for mainstreaming the tribal people.
Addressing a public meeting in Pakha Ghulam area here on Sunday, QWP chairman Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said that tribal people suffered heavily owing to lawlessness.
He said that they should be provided with opportunities so thatthey couldlead a prosperous life by availing the required facilities.
On this occasion elected representatives of local government belonging to PTI, ANP and JUI-F including Zaheer Abbas, Malik Saeed Khan, Ashfag Ahmad Khan, Zaheer Rehmat, Abida Jaffar and Sadia Bibi joined QWP.
Mr Sherpao welcomed the new entrants in the party, saying they would strengthen the party and serve the people. He said that a large number of political workers and neutral people were joining QWP.
Mr Sherpao said that the bill tabled in the parliament regarding the merger of Fata into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the first step towards mainstreaming of people. He said that pragmatic and proactive measures should be taken to remove the problems being faced by the tribal people.
The QWP chief said that National Action Planwas bearing fruit, however, more focus was needed to achieve the targets. He said that Pakhtuns rendered matchless sacrifices in the war against terrorism, which badly damaged their infrastructure and economy.
Mr Sherpao said that the human and material sacrifices of Pakhtuns were countless but they were not compensated properly. He said that alongside rehabilitation of the affected Pakhtuns, the government should focus on revival of their infrastructure and socio-economic development to address their grievances.
The QWP chief expressed anguish over the unannounced and unscheduled power loadshedding in the province. He said that the excessive loadshedding had brought the life to standstill.
He said that the share of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in net hydel profit was not given to it which hindered smooth execution of development projects. He said that federal government meted out step-motherly treatment to Khyber Palchtunkhwa which led to despair among the people. He asked the federal government to take interest in the problems of the province and ensure timely clearance of net hydel dues.
Mr Sherpao said that effective measures should be taken to improve working relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan. He said that Pakhtun leadership could better comprehend intricacy of the relationship between the two neighbours. He called upon federal government to take the issue seriously to bring an end to the mistrust between the two countries as it was essential for peace and tranquility in the region.
