KP leaders threaten agitation if southern districts ignored

CPEC project

PESHAWAR: Political leaders from the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday threatened to launch an agitation if the federal government ignored the impoverished belt in the implementation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

They were speaking at a joint press conference at the Peshawar Press Club here. Representatives of various political parties, including Awami National Party (ANP) former senator Afrasiab Khattak, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid leader Salim Saifullah Khan, former federal minister GG Jamal, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Membaer National Assembly (MNA) Shehryar Afridi, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Rahmat Salam Khattak, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Imtiaz Shahid, PTI MNA from Lakki Marwat Col (retd) Amirullah Marwat, former provincial minister Mian Nisar Gul, PTI woman MPA Zareen Zai and others were present on the occasion.

They said they would first approach Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PTI Chairman Imran Khan, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, Qaumi Watan Party head Aftab Sherpao about their reservations before taking a final decision to go to the court of people.

They said the proposed Western Route of the CPEC would remain incomplete without inclusion of southern districts, saying it had significance due to its close proximity with the neighbouring Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics.

Afrasiab Khattak said that 35 of the 46 billion dollars had been allocated for energy projects. He deplored that no mega energy project, except the Suki Kinari Hydropower Project on the River Kunhar in Mansehra, was launched in KP.

He asked the provincial government not to extend support to the implementation of the CPEC project unless the southern belt was given its due share. The ANP leader said the Western Rroute was viable and secure for launching projects in energy, gas oil and infrastructure. He added that the Western Route should pass through KP, Fata and Balochistan to remove the deprivation among the people affected by militancy.

Salim Saifullah Khan said the government should give the maximum attention to the Western Route to bring economic prosperity and development to the impoverished region. “We are not against launching projects on the eastern side, but the people on the Western Route should not be deprived of their rights,” he said.

He said they would take up these issues in parliament and would not accept injustice with the people of KP, particularly the southern belt. Salim Saifullah said it would boost trade and economic relations with Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics if the Western Route was developed. 

MNA Shehryar Afridi said the government had created misperceptions about the Western Route that it was not secure and feasible for launching projects under the CPEC. He maintained that the people of southern region had rendered great sacrifices in the ongoing war against terrorism, therefore, they should not be deprived of their rights. He urged the government to prioritise the Western Route.

Shehryar Afridi said he had raised his voice on several occasions on the floor of the National Assembly, but lamented that the government didn’t provide the actual facts and figures about the CPEC project.

“Why didn’t the government take the relevant ministries and stakeholders into confidence before signing agreements with China?” he asked. The legislator expressed the fear that anti-state elements would exploit the situation to their advantage if the government didn’t give up its, what he believed, discriminatory approach towards the hitherto underdeveloped areas.

The PTI MNA said they would go to any extent and agitate if the rights were not given to their people, saying they will hold meetings with Chinese ambassador, the prime minister, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, KP chief minister and others before the launching of their protest movement.