Mian Iftikhar says ANP will resist military operation in KP

BANNU: Awami National Party (ANP) leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Saturday vowed that new military operation would be resisted tooth and nail, saying that people of Waziristan were still leading a life out of their ancestral abode.

“There is no example of ongoing violation of the Constitution in the history of the country. The government is running away from purging militancy and terrorism and holding fair and transparent elections,” he said while speaking at a meeting held in the memory of the martyrs of Spin Tangi.

He said that all those should be punished for violating the constitution to put the country back to strong democracy, development and prosperity.

Mian Iftikhar said that Pakhtuns had rendered matchless sacrifices for independence and war against terrorism in the country.

He said that ANP was the continuation of the Bacha Khan’s political struggle. He added the British colonialists had murdered more than 80 peaceful Khudai Khidmatgars, who neither resorted to violence nor backed off from their political struggle.

Bacha Khan’s followers still stood firm on his path of non-violence and were struggling for their rights, he added. He said that the ANP would continue to raise its voice for the rights of Pakhtuns.

The ANP leader said the Spin Tangi, Qissa Khawani, Takkar and other massacres were the biggest tragedies and those martyred would be remembered forever for sacrificing their lives for their nation.

The Spin Tangi massacre or Hathikhel massacre refers to the killing of about 80 non-violent Pashtun protesters by the Frontier Constabulary and the British Indian Army on August 24, 1930 at the Spin Tangi village near Domel in the Bannu district of the North-West Frontier Province now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.