44th death anniversary of Hayat Sherpao marked

CHARSADDA: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) head Aftab Sherpao on Wednesday reiterated his party’s longstanding stance to address the challenges and issues being faced by the Pakhtuns.

He was addressing a gathering in Sherpao village in the Charsadda district to mark the 44th death anniversary of Shaheed Hayat Mohammad Khan Sherpao.

A large number of QWP workers from all over the province showed up at the event to pay homage to Shaheed Hayat Sherpao, who throughout his life strived for the rights of the poor and the oppressed segments of the society. Aftab Sherpao shed light on the life and political struggle of the slain leader. He said the QWP leadership would not rest until the deprivations of the Pakhtuns were removed.

The QWP leader said that the region had been in turmoil for the last 40 years and hundreds of Pakhtuns were killed and maimed for life in acts of subversion and rendered homeless. “The time has come to compensate the Pakhtuns for the losses they suffered. There is a dire need to heal their wounds by redressing their grievances,” he demanded. He said the social fabric of the Pakhtun society had been badly damaged.

Demanding a new social contract, Aftab Sherpao maintained that Pakhtun leadership was kept out of the Parliament under a conspiracy. “What message is being conveyed through such tactics,” he asked.

“We urge the state not to turn a blind eye to the demands of the Pakhtuns as cold-shouldering them would alienate them,” he noted with concern. Recalling the efforts made by his party to unite the Pakhtuns on a single platform, Aftab Sherpao said that though the QWP strived to forge unity among the Pakhtuns, it did not receive a positive response. Demanding the government to implement the Fata reforms and the merger process in letter and spirit, he said that policing and judicial infrastructure should be set up in the tribal districts so that the people could benefit from it.

On Afghanistan, he said that the ongoing peace talks between the Taliban and the US should be all-inclusive in a bid to bring stability to the war-torn country. He said that this opportunity should not be missed to end the bloodshed.

The Afghan conflict has taken a heavy toll on the civilians who are still bearing the brunt of the violence, he said.

Coming down hard on the government, Sherpao said that the rulers had compounded the miseries of the people by raising the prices of gas, electricity and life-saving drugs. He added that the rulers could not translate their election promises into reality.

QWP provincial Leader Sikandar Sherpao and others also delivered speeches on the occasion.

Meanwhile, the QWP chief expressed sorrow over the death of former Afghan president Prof Sibghatullah Mujaddedi.