ANP leader says China striving for regional peace

PESHAWAR: Former provincial minister and Awami National Party (ANP) leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Wednesday expressed the hope that peace would be restored to Afghanistan and Pakistan as China has started playing a practical role in the region.
He was speaking at a seminar organised here in connection with journalists and their hardships during work.Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that Pakistan in general and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata in particular had suffered immense losses during the so-called war against terrorism in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.
He said the militancy had badly affected the life of each and every individual in KP and Fata. However, he said now China has started playing a practical role in resolving the Afghan conflict, it would help restore peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“Previously China would contact the Afghan Taliban through Pakistan. Now they have directly contacted the Taliban and the Afghan government and both sides have reportedly agreed to talk to each other. It is a very positive sign for peace in the entire region,” the ANP leader said.
Mian Iftikhar said the journalists in KP and Fata had played a heroic role in promoting peace and creating awareness among the people about the menace of terrorism. He lamented that journalists working in the filed were unprotected, underpaid and exposed to dangers.
“The journalists are required to unite and raise voice for their rights. It is very unfortunate as the media organisations for which the journalists sacrifice their lives don’t care of their orphaned children,” he lamented.
He told the journalists that it was not bravery to speak the truth by endangering their lives rather they should learn to tell a true story and save their lives too.Mian Iftikhar asked the journalists to identify and expose the real enemies of free media and independent journalism in Pakistan.
A former journalist, now Deputy Inspector General of Police, Mohammad Ali Babakhel, also spoke on the occasion. He strongly opposed the idea of arming the journalists in the conflict zones.
“Access to information is your basic right but I will never ever suggest the idea of militarising the journalists,” Mohammad Ali Babakhel said.He said media owners should keep it in mind that media was no more missionary as it had become a business now. “It has become a business so the owners should spend money on journalists, their training and protection. The journalists who are killed in the line of duty should be properly compensated,” he suggested.