Asfand asks govt to stay away from Yemen conflict

CHARSADDA: In a reference to the escalation of violence in the Middle East, Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan Saturday warned the government against becoming party in the conflict.
“In the past too, the ANP had opposed joining somebody else’s war,” he said
while addressing at a convention of party workers in Umarzai here.
Former provincial ministers Sardar Hussain Babak, Arshad Abdullah, ANP’s provincial general secretary Aimal Wali Khan, Senator Baz Mohammad Khan, Zafarullah Khan, Naeem Khan and other party leaders were present on the occasion.
He called for following the philosophy of non-violence advocated by great freedom fighter Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan lovingly called as Bacha Khan by his followers.
“Bacha Khan and Wali Khan had warned Pakistan against siding with the United States against Russia in the Afghan war, but their warning fell on deaf ears,” he recalled.
“Now both the countries [Pakistan and Afghanistan] are bearing the brunt of that war,” he declared.
Opposing the conduct of the upcoming local government elections on non-party basis, he urged party workers to gird themselves for the local bodies polls.
Asfandyar Wali said the provincial government had failed to deliver on its pledges and it was looking for excuses to quit power.
He added Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would not be allowed to become a political martyr. “The provincial government would be given the chance to govern the province for five years,” he maintained.
He said the previous ANP-led provincial government and its allies won provincial autonomy for the province. He believed some elements were now conspiring against the gains the ANP had made during its rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “Nobody will be allowed to conspire against the interests of the province,” he vowed.