Mian Iftikhar asks govt to address tribal people reservations

NOWSHERA: Demanding to address the reservations of tribal people, Awami National Party (ANP) general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Tuesday said that the party’s non-violence policy should not be considered as their weakness.

Speaking to party workers in Taru Jabba, he said that Rao Anwar was the killer of Pakhtuns and he must be brought to justice and his protectors unmasked. He said that tribespeople had been living in tents for long while no one in the government was paying heed to their problems.

Mian Iftikhar said the government had taken grants and aids in the name of these people and had not given a penny to them. He asked the government to rehabilitate the tribespeople forthwith and address their reservations.

The ANP leader said that the destroyed homes, schools and hospitals in tribal areas should be built soon and landmines removed from the Fata. The ANP general secretary also demanded merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “The tribal areas must also be given representation in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly,” he added. He said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor would have brought economic uplift in the Pakhtun region but the government deprived them of their rights.

The ANP is not against the Chinese investment but would not tolerate the violation of the rights of Pakhtuns,” he said, adding that joblessness in the region was due to the government’s flawed policies.