Won’t tolerate harassment of Afghan refugees: Asfandyar

SWABI: The President of Awami National Party (ANP), Asfandyar Wali Khan, said on Sunday that his party will not tolerate harassment of Afghan refugees.He was addressing a condolence reference to mourn the assassination of the former Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Muhammad Shoaib Khan.

The ANP chief said there was a dire need to revisit the country’s foreign and domestic policies. Shoaib Khan, who was a local ANP leader, was commonly known as Malang Baba. He was killed by unidentified gunmen in his hujra on July 18.

Asfandyar Wali said a meeting of the ANP has been called on September 20-21 to devise a strategy to stop the target killing of innocent workers and leaders of the party.The ANP chief said the Afghan government had informed the Pakistani authorities that they had killed the mastermind of Peshawar’s Army Public School attack on the Afghan soil.

“But the Pakistani authorities have not killed or arrested a single leader of the Afghan Taliban on its soil or handed him over to the Afghan government,” he maintained.The ANP leader said that peace in Pakistan was linked to stability in Afghanistan. “If there is disturbance in Afghanistan, Pakistan would also be in turmoil. Peace and progress in the two countries are linked. If anyone has any doubt, he should read history,” he argued.

Asfandyar said that not only Pakistan, but also the entire region would witness trouble and instability if there was a war in Afghanistan. The ANP leader stressed that the Afghan refugees should not be  repatriate them with dignity and honour. “It is surprising that yesterday they were called the mujahedeen, but today they are forced to go back to Afghanistan,” he noted.

He criticised the Interiority Ministry for ordering steps that led to harassment of the Afghan refugees. He also condemned the closure of the Durand Line at the border towns of Chaman and Torkham.

Asfandyar Wali, who is son and political heir of the late Khan Abdul Wali Khan, proudly declared that he was of Afghan origin and was still an Afghan as mentioned in the revenue record.

He said that the National Action Plan (NAP) had failed to deliver in view of the continuation of terrorists attacks. He blamed the federal government for its failure. He said the political parties had accepted the establishment of the military courts to eradicate the menace of terrorism from the country. He said this decision was taken with a heavy heart. 

The ANP leader urged the federal government to conduct population census forthwith and unblock the computerised national identity cards of the Pakhtuns that were blocked on the plea that they could be Afghan nationals. “The rulers should stop using lame excuses for delaying the long overdue census as they want to maintain the domination of Punjab over the other federating units,” he asserted.

Asfandyar said Fata should be made part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.  Former KP chief minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan along with his team will be wiped out from KP soon.  He said the KP government has not initiated any new development project and it is putting its nameplate on the projects initiated by the ANP government.