ANP chief seeks efforts for merger of Balochistan’s Pakhtun areas into KP

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) head Asfandyar Wali Khan said on Saturday that efforts should be made to merge Pakhtun-inhabited areas in Balochistan with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the proposed merger of Fata into the province.

“Pakhtuns in the country living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata and Balochistan have no option but to unite and work together for peace on their soil,” Asfandyar Wali told a seminar at the Nishtar Hall. It was organized by the Malgari Wakeelan, a body of lawyers affiliated with the ANP.

Senior lawyer Abdul Latif Afridi and others also addressed the function.

The ANP chief said he didn’t understand as to why two political parties were opposed to the merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“It’s the same government that had set up a committee which recommended merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is a shame for the government and the committee members if the recommendations are not being implemented,” Asfandyar Wali said.

About the 10-day long Pashtun dharna in Islamabad, he said that the police officer who killed Naqeebullah Mahsud should be held and grilled to know as to who had ordered him to kill a large number of Wazir, Mahsud and other Pakhtuns in fake encounters in Karachi.

“Get hold of him and he will tell as to who ordered him to go after the Pakhtuns. Not only the police officer in question, but those behind him are our culprits,” declared Asfandyar Wali.

The ANP leader opined that all the leaders of the Pakhtuns should now make serious and concerted efforts for restoration of peace.

“We have lived our lives, but we have to work for restoration of peace and to provide better environment to our future generation. All the Pakhtuns should unite for this purpose and play their role,” he maintained.

He asked the Pakhtuns to stand up and raise their voice to highlight their untold suffering and pull the nation out of the current situation. He expressed his concern over increasing intolerance in the society, saying the political rivals and workers should tolerate each other and learn to co-exist.

He questioned the role of the state institutions in preventing incidents of mob justice and support being extended to the practice by various groups.

“When Bacha Khan termed the Afghan war fasaad, people labelled him as an agent of Russia and India. Today all the people have reached to the conclusion that it was a fasaad,” he pointed out. “This is the reason we say that Bacha Khani is the only solution to the current problems of the country,” he remarked while referring to a slogan of his party that means following the way of late freedom fighter Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan).