{"id":3755,"date":"2025-06-30T16:05:41","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T16:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2025\/06\/30\/faxta-voice-for-tribals\/"},"modified":"2025-06-30T16:08:35","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T16:08:35","slug":"faxta-voice-for-tribals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2025\/06\/30\/faxta-voice-for-tribals\/","title":{"rendered":"FATA Grand Jirga Rejects Merger, Demands Restoration of Special Status and End to Taxes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Islamabad<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 Leaders of the FATA Loya Jirga have strongly rejected the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, demanding the restoration of FATA’s special status and an immediate end to federal and provincial taxes in the region. At a press conference held at the National Press Club Islamabad, the Jirga, led by President Bismillah Khan Qabaili, urged the government to consult the tribal people before implementing any law, especially the Mines and Minerals Act, which they declared unacceptable without community consent.<\/p>\n

The elders insisted that for more than 5,000 years, the mineral resources of the region have belonged solely to the tribes and that neither the federal nor provincial governments have the right to interfere. They warned that imposing laws without tribal consultation would escalate tensions, stating, \u201cSuch actions will push the tribes to the wall and may have disastrous consequences for the entire region.\u201d<\/p>\n

They also condemned the lack of implementation of promises made during the FATA merger, including the NFC award’s 3% share, Rs. 110 billion annual development package for ten years, the hiring of 30,000 Levies personnel, and a 10-year tax-free zone. \u201cNot a single promise has been fulfilled,\u201d said the Jirga, pointing out that 95% of FATA\u2019s population still lives below the poverty line.<\/p>\n

The elders called for the reconstruction of homes, schools, hospitals, mosques, and roads destroyed during years of conflict, and for the immediate restoration of businesses and employment opportunities. \u201cFirst give us peace and livelihood, then talk of taxes,\u201d they asserted.<\/p>\n

The Jirga rejected a recently formed federal committee meant to revive jirgas and strengthen civil administration, stating that it lacks proper tribal representation and does not address the actual grievances of the region. They demanded a new committee composed of local tribal stakeholders to ensure genuine dialogue and problem-solving.<\/p>\n

Regarding the Mines and Minerals Act, the elders emphasized that the tribal people already have a community-led plan to work with multinational companies and the government to use resources for the benefit of the tribes and the nation. They said they would present this plan to relevant authorities at the appropriate time.<\/p>\n

They urged the Supreme Court of Pakistan to immediately hear their constitutional petition, which has been pending since 2018, and deliver justice to the 15 million tribal people without further delay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Islamabad\u00a0\u2013 Leaders of the FATA Loya Jirga have strongly rejected the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, demanding the restoration of FATA’s special status and an immediate end to federal and provincial taxes in the region. At a press conference held at the National Press Club Islamabad, the Jirga, led …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3755"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3758,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3755\/revisions\/3758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}