All sorts of fraud committed in KP: Zardari

NOWSHERA: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervez Khattak could not improve the conditions of  his own village while his party chairman was making claims of changing Pakistan.

He was speaking at a public meeting in Pervez Khattak's village Manki Sharif where the Pir of Manki Sharif Pirzada Nabi Amin announced joining the PPP.

Zardari said the state of affairs at Manki Sharif showed the performance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the KP during the last four and a half years. He said every fraud was carried out in the province; even they didn’t spare the Bank of Khyber, which indicated the level of corruption in the KP.

He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was facing the worst loadshedding while unemployment was rising. He claimed the people were losing jobs in the province. The PPP co-chairperson  maintained that his party while in power provided jobs to educated youth in the KP but they were sacked by the next government. "We reinstated the sacked employees after forming the government again," he added. "They sent former provincial minister Liaqat Shabab of our party behind bars due to  politically motivated cases," he alleged.

"I told Pervez Khattak that Liaqat Shabab would bear the difficulties of prison but you and your leader would regret your mistakes after falling into a similar situation," he recalled. Zardari said that Imran Khan had never faced the hardships that political workers face. "Imran always used the backdoor for getting favourable decisions," he remarked. He maintained that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and PTI had no interest in resolving the problems of the masses.

He said that the PPP had given identity to Pakhtuns. "Who will resolve the problems, the Pakhtuns would face 25 years from now?" he questioned. "The rulers must not think about their personal gains and should consider alleviating the sufferings of the masses," he stressed.

The PPP leader said that the country's youth was aware of the plight of Muslims in India and other countries. He urged them to work for strengthening Pakistan's security. Paying tributes to the Pir of Manki Sharif, he said that Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had sought the support of Pir of Manki Sharif during the struggle for independence. He said that then Pir of Manki Sharif had defeated the Congress and today's Pir would defeat the ruling 'BJP' in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The former President of Pakistan said that Peshawar was once the hub of economic activity and hoped that the Pir of Manki would utilise the energies of the youth for restoring the past glory of the Peshawar valley.

He alleged that the PTI had given the mineral extraction contracts to its blue-eyed persons and promised that his party's government would introduce merit in the award of contracts and development schemes. He added that locals would be given preference in the award of contracts.