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Leave us alone, tribesmen tell politicians

Staff Report

PESHAWAR: An influential tribal leader has unleashed scathing criticism of political parties’ interference, asking them to stay out of the affairs of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) while eulogising President Pervez Musharraf’s development schemes for tribal areas.

“Leave us alone. We can handle the problem of foreign elements without the interference of these parties,” Malik Khan Marjan Wazir of North Waziristan Agency who is also central president of the Tehrik Ittehad-e-Qabail (Movement for Tribal Unity), told reporters at the Peshawar Press Club on Friday.

He said the tribesmen did not need the support of political parties – Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz – since they could handle any crisis in their areas themselves. He also did not spare the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam for interfering in the internal affairs of the tribesmen.

Mr Marjan argued that since the Political Parties Act had not been extended to FATA, the interference of political parties was uncalled for. He alleged that the politicians were doing this for their own interests and not for the interests of the tribesmen. Slamming the Awami National Party, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl parties for their so-called tribal jirgas to highlight military operations against Al Qaeda, Mr Marjan said that no tribal elder had been allowed to speak during these jirgas. “Liaqat Baloch, a Punjabi, represented the tribesmen at the JI-organised tribal jirga,” said Mr Marjan.

The tribal leader also asked the federal government to keep Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat and Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed “in check”, saying that their media statements could damage President Musharraf’s credibility among the tribesmen. “Who are they to speak about military operations in the tribal areas?” he asked. He said that if Islamabad were trying to sort out “differences” with Kabul it should send a tribal jirga instead of involving Khan Abdul Wali Khan’s sons.

He praised President Musharraf and said that he was the only leader who had taken an interest in the development of the tribal areas. “Who else did anything for the development of the tribal areas since Pakistan’s independence?” he said.

Mr Marjan said the tribesmen of North and South Waziristan Agencies were strong enough to drive out undesirable people. “No force can withstand the pressure of the tribal lashkar. The alleged terrorists can be driven out if outside interference is stopped,” he asserted.

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