Five progressive Pakhtun nationalist parties form Pakhtunkhwa Jamhoori Ittehad

PESHAWAR: The leaders of five progressive Pakhtun nationalist parties on Monday announced the formation of the Pakhtunkhwa Jamhoori Ittehad to make joint efforts for the resolution of the problems facing the Pakhtuns.

Sikandar Hayat Sherpao of Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), Afzal Shah Khamosh of Mazdoor Kisan Party (MKP), Mukhtiar Bacha of National Party (NP), Ajmal Afridi of Pakhtunkhwa Ulasi Tehreek (PUT) and Sahibzada Haider Zaman of Awami Workers Party (AWP) were present at the press conference to share the nine-point agenda of the alliance with members of the media.

The alliance does not include two major Pakhtun nationalist parties including Asfandyar Wali Khan’s Awami National Party and Mahmood Khan Achakzai’s Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party

Elaborating the main points of the agenda, Sikandar Sherpao said that they would strive for the introduction of a new social contract to bring an end to the concept of the security state. He said the alliance would seek the re-formation of all the provinces on social, historical and cultural basis. He added that the agenda also called for compensating the victims of acts of terrorism in a transparent manner.

Sikandar Sherpao said they would strive to help expedite the merger of the former tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the true sense as per the decisions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

“The Pakhtunkhwa Jamhoori Ittehad would support an all-inclusive approach to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan and introduction of a comprehensive policy to facilitate trade with the Central Asian Republics,” he added.

The agenda of the five-party alliance also demanded a financial package to address the grievances of the Pakhtuns and remove the prevailing sense of deprivation among them.

According to the agenda, the alliance would strive for the rights of the peasants, workers and students. It would also make efforts to promote all the languages and cultures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Sikandar Sherpao said that the alliance would approach other Pakhtun nationalist forces to seek their support in a bid to address the challenges being faced by the Pakhtuns.

He recalled that efforts for the establishment of such an alliance were started after the last general election in July 2018.

The QWP leader reminded that his party had written letters to all the Pakhtun nationalist parties to invite them to discuss formation of an alliance of Pakhtun nationalist parties.

He said the Pakhtunkhwa Jamhoori Ittehad would hold a conference in Peshawar in the second week of April to call upon the government to expedite the merger process of the erstwhile Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

National Party’s Mukhtar Bacha announced that Sikandar Sherpao had been made convener of the Pakhtunkhwa Jamhoori Ittehad for six months.

To a question, Mazdoor Kisan Party’s Afzal Shah Khamosh said that they would approach all the Pakhtun national forces to come together to solve the problems facing the Pakhtuns. He argued that the Pakhtuns have suffered a lot as they have been exposed to a host of challenges in recent years.