ANP voices reservations over Azm-e-Istehkam operation

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) Provincial President Mian Iftikhar Hussain has said that his party has serious reservations over Operation Azm-e-Istehkam as it should be discussed and approved by the Parliament instead of the Apex Committee.

He said this while talking to media persons during the visit of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi to Bacha Khan Markaz here on Monday.The ANP leader said the Parliament, including the National Assembly, Senate and all provincial assemblies must be taken into confidence while taking such decisions against terrorism and extremism in the country.

“The public is fed up with the military operations and dialogues with militants as in both cases the local people are the ultimate sufferers and they have to leave their own homes and towns,” he said.

The ANP leader added that the militants had occupied the areas whenever the local people had left their homes. The ANP leader said that the military operation must be launched from the Punjab where the masterminds of terrorists and extremist organizations were based.

Mian Iftikhar said the federal government must expose those who had brought and facilitated the alleged militants from the neighboring country and resettled on Pakhtun soil during the PTI-led government.

“The PTI is playing a double game on the elimination of terrorism in the country as on the one hand the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister had raised no objection to Operation Azm-e-Istehkam at Apex Committee while on the other the PTI MNAs in National Assembly were making hue and cry over the fresh operation,” he said and added that the PTI leadership and elected members were only interested in the release of their party founding chairman from the prison.The ANP leader that the National Action Plan (NAP) was not fully implemented to eliminate terrorism and extremism from the country and only military courts were established under the it.

“Almost all political parties and other stakeholders had agreed on the NAP but it was not fully implemented to stamp out terrorism and extremism,” he added.Mian Iftikhar said the power loadshedding increased in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the chief minister forcibly entered a grid station and staged the “button’ drama” to befool the public.

“The power loadshedding and other issues related to the federal government should be resolved through serious talks and proper policy,” he added.The ANP leader asked the KP chief minister and governor to end personal differences and push the province in the right direction including getting provincial rights from the federal government.