PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) President Asfandyar Wali Khan said Thursday his party would not remain silent over the martyrdom of Superintendent of Police Tahir Khan Dawar.
Through a statement issued here from Bacha Khan Markaz, he said the government and relevant institutions must answer the nation as to how a senior officer was taken to Afghanistan from Islamabad.
The ANP president said the state had a discriminatory approach towards Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as suo moto notices had been taken over the issues of District Police Officer of Pak Pattan in Punjab and Inspector General of Islamabad Police while the issue of Tahir Dawar was ignored.
Asfandyar Wali said a clear message had been conveyed to the Pakhtuns. He pointed out that chief justice was heading to the United Kingdom for the dams’ fund raising but had had not taken any notice of the martyrdom of our policeman.
“The selected” prime minister had kept the portfolio of the interior with himself for sweeping such issues under the rag, the ANP president alleged.
He said those issuing fatwas (decrees) for the murder of army chief and chief justice were let scot-free while the ones who had fought bravely in the war against terrorism were kidnapped and murdered.
The ANP president said the martyrdom of Tahir Dawar raised questions over the efficiency of the security agencies. “Should we mourn the extrajudicial killings in Waziristan, Bajaur and Quetta or the Islamabad incident?” the statement asked.
He said the government silence over the National Action Plan manifested that the non-state actors had the support of the state. “We have laid down our lives for the security of the country,” he said. “Still the suicide bombers are chasing us,” he lamented.
Asfandyar Wali vowed not to let the sacrifices go in vain, adding that the discrimination against Pakhtuns had crossed all limits.
Meanwhile, the Awami National Party submitted an adjournment motion in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Thursday to discuss the abduction and martyrdom of SP Tahir Dawar. The ANP Parliamentary leader in the KP Assembly Sardar Hussain Babak submitted the motion. He said the abduction of a serving police officer and recovery of his body from Afghanistan proved the government’s failure. He said the gruesome incident also raised questions over the performance of the security and intelligence agencies.
He maintained that the government should be made answerable as to how Tahir Dawar was taken to Afghanistan without being noticed at any checkpoint in Pakistan.