QWP leader urges govt to help ailing Pashto poet

PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) leader Sikandar Sherpao on Tuesday asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture Directorate to extend financial help to the ailing Pashto poet Zareen Pareshan.

In a statement after visiting the Khyber Teaching Hospital where he inquired after the health of the unwell poet, he said that poets and literati had rendered great services for the promotion of the Pashto language. “The poets and literati are an asset to us,” he said, urging the government to heed their problems.

Sikandar Sherpao urged the government and the Culture Directorate to help the ailing poet and literary figure. He said no government official had bothered to visit Zareen Pareshan in the hospital let alone giving him any financial help. Sikandar Sherpao said it was very unfortunate that many poets and literati were living a miserable life due to the indifferent attitude of the government.

The QWP leader said that the Pakhtuns voted for those who had claimed to bring about a change, but the rulers had now turned a blind eye to their woes.