Demonstrations were held on Sunday across the Malakand Division, with participants demanding that federal and provincial authorities immediately revoke the new tax decision or face a province‑wide protest movement.
The rally in Swat was attended by lawyers, traders, political leaders, elders, and party workers from across the region.
Speakers included the Swat Traders’ Federation president, Abdur Rahim Khan; Jamaat‑i‑Islami leader Inayatullah Khan; PTI MNA Dr. Amjad Ali and MPA Fazal Hakim Khan; ANP leader Sher Shah Khan; JUI‑F’s Ijaz Khan; PML‑N’s Qawai Khan; and PPP’s Akhtar Hussain, among others.
They noted that the people of Malakand have suffered unprecedented hardships over the past two decades, including the devastating 2005 earthquake, prolonged terrorism, military operations, displacement, and recurring floods.
Participants criticise Centre for taxing people already suffering from terrorism, natural disasters
They argued that despite repeated natural disasters and prolonged conflict, successive governments had failed to provide adequate development projects or economic relief to the region.
Instead, they said the new tax imposition placed an additional financial burden on a population already grappling with economic challenges.
Rather than extending relief, the government’s tax policy would deepen the local population’s difficulties, the speakers warned, threatening a sustained protest across the entire division if the measures were not immediately revoked.
In Lower Dir, Jamaat‑i‑Islami organised a rally in Timergara against the Malakand tax imposition, demanding the government’s withdrawal of the decision.
The protest, which drew party workers, traders, and residents from across the district, was led by JI Lower Dir emir Maulana Asadullah.
Protesters marched through several streets before assembling at Gorgorai Chowk, where speakers condemned the government’s taxation policy and warned of a broader protest movement should their demands go unmet.
Addressing the crowd, Maulana Asadullah, JI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa North deputy emir Arshad Zaman, JI Lower Dir general secretary Shoaib Ahmad, Timergara Traders’ Association president Anwaruddin, and information secretary Malik Sher Bahadur Khan declared that the people of Malakand rejected the new tax imposition.
The speakers clarified that they were not opposed to taxation per se, but argued that successive governments had failed to honour commitments made to Malakand at the time of its merger with Pakistan in 1969.
They claimed that the area had been promised tax‑free status for a specified period and that successive governments had not fulfilled their obligations to the region.
They noted that Malakand continued to lag behind other parts of the province and the country in development and public services.
In Bajaur, members of political parties and the business community staged a protest in Inayat Kallay Bazaar against the imposition of federal taxes in the division.
Protesters, holding banners and placards bearing slogans critical of the federal government, also voiced concerns over the prolonged unrest in the district.
Bajaur Amn Jirga head Sahibzada Haroon Rashid, Jamaat leader Sardar Khan, Khar Traders’ Association president Wajid Ali Shah, JUI‑F’s Imran Mahir, and others addressed the gathering, voicing concern over the tax imposition.
Describing the taxes as “adding salt to the wounds” of millions already suffering from unrest, poor law and order, poverty and backwardness, the speakers said the federal government should have taken ground realities into account before imposing taxes.
They called the “unfair and unlawful” tax imposition evidence that the federal government lacked concern for the 20 million people facing serious challenges in the region.
Citing the Sartaj Aziz Commission report, the speakers noted that the region was slated to remain tax‑free until 2028.
They stressed that the federal government must fulfill its commitment to provide Rs 100 billion annually and a three‑percent share in the NFC Award to the region.
They argued that had the federal government understood the residents’ hardships, it would not have imposed the taxes.
Haroon Rashid announced that a meeting of the political and business community from all tribal districts and the Malakand Division would be held in Peshawar on July 16 to plan a protest rally in Islamabad against federal taxes.
