The political administration of North Waziristan Agency has barred activists of the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (Sami) from holding public meeting in favour of Fata's merger in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Provincial Ameer of JUI-S Maulana Yousaf Shah said this while talking to media in Bannu. He said they had taken prior permission from the local administration for holding public meeting but at the eleventh hour, it imposed curfew in Miranshah and barred them from showing the strength.
"We condemn the political administration's move. We will launch a separate protest drive against the undemocratic attitude of the political authorities," he remarked. The JUI-S provincial leadership later held a meeting at the Bannu press club to discuss the reforms' agenda. Member National Assembly from Khyber Agency Shah Jee Gul Afridi and other political and social figures also attended the meeting.
The participants of the meeting said that they would continue their struggle for the immediate merger of Fata in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They further said that they would also strive to ensure representation for Fata in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in the upcoming general elections. Earlier, JUI-S provincial chief Maulana Yousaf Shah had announced to hold public gatherings in Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to force the government expedite process of reforms in Fata.
He said that he would try to convince all stakeholders to shun their differences and get united to merge Fata with KP. "A public gathering in Kurram Agency on November 11, in Jamrud on November 12, in Peshawar on 18 in support of Fata's merger in KP," he said. He said that tribal people have been deprived of their rights since independence and time has come to give them their due rights.