Meeting with BNP hope for oppressed ethnicities: ANP leader

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) provincial general secretary Sardar Hussain Babak said on Friday that the meeting between his party’s provincial president Aimal Wali and Balochistan National Party leader Sardar Akhtar Mengal was a ray of hope for oppressed ethnicities.

In a statement issued from Bacha Khan Markaz, the ANP leader urged all peace-loving and progressive leaders and workers to unite.

He criticized both the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), stating they shared the agenda of maintaining control over the resources of Pakhtun land.

Babak expressed concern over PTI’s consecutive third term in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, suggesting it aimed to render the 18th constitutional amendment ineffective and further impoverish the province.

He lamented the lack of a voice for peace and development in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly for the third consecutive term, emphasizing that PTI neglected the constitutional rights of the province.

According to Babak, the resolution of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s problems lies in the fair distribution of the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award and hydro gas royalties. He warned that ignoring these constitutional rights would perpetuate the province’s backwardness.

Babak questioned PTI’s stance on provincial autonomy, stating that if the province’s people elected it, why it opposes it? He asserted that PTI and PML-N represented two sides of the same coin.