ANP leader says PTI protest should be within limits

NOWSHERA: Awami National Party General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain said on Sunday staging protest was the basic right of every one but that practice should not infringe on others rights. He was speaking at the party organisational meeting at Shahkot in the Pabbi town of the Nowshera district.

The senior ANP leader said the protest, agitation, locking down cities and troubling masses were altogether different things. “It would be better to adopt a way of registering protest that does not bother the masses,” he elaborated while referring to the November 2 plan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to lock down Islamabad.

Mian Iftikhar said the Panama Papers leaks issue was with the Supreme Court. He said staging protest amounted to a no-trust in the apex court. “How will the country be run if the protest is held without waiting for the court verdict and trust is not put in the Parliament and courts?” he questioned.

The ANP leader said that it was the need of the hour to evolve a mechanism for the protest that leads to the fulfillment of the political aims without causing hardships to the common people and derailing democracy.

Coming down hard on the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, Mian Iftikhar said there was a cash crisis in the province. “The provincial government wants to sell the state-owned lands and properties to complete the development schemes and run the affairs of the government. What will the future governments do if the public resources were put at risk?” he asked.