TANK: Awami National Party (ANP) provincial president Ameer Haider Hoti on Wednesday said the merger of tribal areas into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the top priority of his party.
Speaking at a joining ceremony here, the nationalist politician said that the ANP would not rest until the unification of Pakhtuns of tribal areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He renewed the demand for the immediate merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He alleged that Punjab was exploiting the resources of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, adding, the ANP was not against a province but would not accept anyone to usurp rights of Pakhtuns.
He also criticised Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and chief of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Mehmood Khan Achakzai for their opposition of Fata merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He alleged that Chief Minister Pervez Khattak failed to secure rights of his province in the multi-billion dollars China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). “When the chief ministers of other provinces were signing agreements with China under CPEC Pervez Khattak was dancing on the stage in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) sit-ins in Islamabad,” he went on to add.
He said that PTI chief Imran Khan was using Khyber Pakhtunkhwa resources to get support of people of Punjab.
He said that in the 2013 general election, other provinces voted nationalist parties into power but Pakhtuns elected an outsider (Imran Khan). “The people are now paying the price of their mistake,” he added.
He said that the PTI was inaugurating and claiming credit for the projects launched by the previous ANP-led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that Imran Khan was supporting Ali Amin Gandapur against his own party Member National Assembly Dawar Khan Kundi and initiated action against him for siding with the truth. On the occasion, the activists of other political parties joined ANP.