PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) central president Senator Aimal Wali Khan said on Tuesday that the time had come to implement the 18th Constitutional Amendment in letter and spirit and give smaller provinces their due rights.
“Our struggle is not only limited to the withdrawal of the Mines and Minerals Bill, but also for the full implementation of the 18th Constitutional Amendment,” he said while addressing a seminar on the Mines and Minerals Bill organised by the Peshawar High Court Bar Association.
Earlier, High Court Bar Association president Advocate Aminur Rehman Yousafzai welcomed the participants and guests.
Aimal Wali said that lawyers were well aware of their rights and those of their children, and that the voice for Pashtuns rights was raised by Bacha Khan over 105 years ago. He said that the resources of this land belonged solely to the people of this province.
“Before August 14, we were under British rule, but we had democratic rights. After Pakistan’s independence, Qayyum Khan was given power, and Pashtun leaders were imprisoned,” he remarked.
He added that Wali Khan accepted the 1973 Constitution on the condition that Pashtun rights would be protected. Under that Constitution, he said the minerals in the sea belong to the federation, while minerals found in any region belonged to the people of that region. He highlighted that Asfandyar Wali Khan fought constitutionally to secure the name of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and provincial autonomy.
However, he lamented that certain people had now been given power, who were willing to surrender provincial autonomy. “Remaining silent in such circumstances would be a grave injustice,” he said. “Who is extracting pine nuts from Waziristan and minerals from Mohmand and Bajaur? Why isn’t the Parachinar route being opened? Because lithium has been discovered there. We know that mafias have captured mineral resources, and now they want to take over our authority as well.”
The nationalist leader warned that if the bill was passed, it would be a betrayal to the nation, and that they would fight every battle to prevent it.
He stressed that anyone living on this land, regardless of language, will be considered a Pashtun and must stand against this bill.
“I am standing against this bill. All I ask is that you stand with me,” Aimal Wali said. “I want to make it clear to the state: we will not accept any amendment to the 18th Amendment. Pashtuns, Baloch, and Sindhis must be given their rights, or there will be protests. The state must give us our rights or give us freedom. If we didn’t accept the slavery of the British, why would we accept anyone else’s?”
He said that everyone knew what happened in the last three elections, but there can be no compromise on provincial rights. “We need the implementation of the 18th Amendment at all costs,” he vowed.
Later, he congratulated the newly-elected bar cabinet and asked for their support. On this occasion, PHC Bar general secretary Ashfaq Dawar, District Bar president Qaiser Zaman, and several ANP leaders also spoke.
