Video clip of ex-CM sparks controversy

PESHAWAR: A video clip of former chief minister and now candidate of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Pervez Khattak has become viral on the social media in which he has used harsh language against his non-Khattak candidates and residents of Nowshera district.Hailing from Manki Sharif village, Pervez Khattak is contesting for two provincial assembly seats and one National Assembly constituency on the PTI ticket in the July 25 general election. His nephew and son-in-law Dr Imran Khattak is the PTI candidate for NA-26 Nowshera. During the ongoing election campaign, Pervez Khattak used harsh language against his rival candidates and claimed that he would throw all Nowkharian (residents of Nowshera city) into the river Kabul. This statement was apparently recorded by someone attending the meeting on mobile phone and circulated on Facebook and Twitter. It might be a slip of tongue. The video clip shows that he had not particularly singled out any candidate or his political rivals. Later in a follow-up video Pervez Khattak clarified that he had made no reference to the general population or non-Khattak residents of Nowshera city but was talking about his rival candidates. Nowshera district is inhabited by Khattak and non-Khattak. The majority of the Khattak tribes live on southern side of the river Kabul while the non-Khattaks are living on the northern side of the river. There are two National Assembly and five Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly constituencies in the district. Pervez Khattak is contesting for NA-25 and PK-64 and PK-61 in Nowshera. The National Assembly constituency from where he is the PTI candidate comprises Nowshera city, Rashakai, Akora Khattak, Jehangira, Nizampur and Ziarat Kaka Sahib and other small towns and villages. The candidates of other political parties, particularly those who belong to Nowshera city, have been using the video clip of Pervez Khattak as propaganda tool against the PTI candidates in their public meetings and through the social media.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz candidate for PK-63 Nowshera, Ikhtiar Wali Khan in his video message not only condemned the language of Pervez Khattak but said that being central leader of PTI he should be careful not to cause ethnic and tribal strife in the district.

The PPP candidate Khan Pervez Khan, who belongs to Badrashi village, has also circulated a video message against Pervez Khattak and said that he wanted to win the sympathy of Khattak voters through “mean tactics”.

The ANP candidate for NA-25, Nowshera, Malik Juma Khan has also taken notice of the hard language of Pervez Khattak and asked the Election Commission of Pakistan to take notice of such remarks about tribes and clans to which the voters belong.

The video clip has been shared by dozens of users of Facebook and Twitter. It has triggered an interesting debate between PTI supporters and activists of other political parties on the social media.

For NA-25 Nowshera, Pervez Khattak is facing PPP’s Khan Pervez Khan, ANP’s Malik Juma Khan, MMA’s Zulfiqar Bacha, PML-N’s Siraj Khan and Jamiat Ulema-i- Islam-Sami’s Maulana Hamidul Haq.

On NA-26 Nowshera, his nephew and former MNA Dr Imran Khattak is contesting against MMA’s Asif Luqman Qazi, ANP’s Jamal Khattak and PPP’s Mian Feroz Jamal Shah.