ANP leader sees conspiracy behind underdevelopment

KARAK: Awami National Party (ANP) provincial head Aimal Wali Khan on Tuesday alleged that the rulers deliberately kept the Pakhtun-populated areas underdeveloped. He was addressing a public meeting at Latambar here. He is on a four-day visit to Karak.

The ANP leader claimed his party was striving to help the Pakhtuns get their due rights. “We will continue to strive till the province had control over its natural resources,” he added. He said if Punjab had the authority to ban the supply of wheat flour to other provinces then Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was also justified in stopping the supply of oil, gas and electricity to Punjab.

Aimal Wali urged the Pakhtuns to rally behind the nationalist party to have control over the resources of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said the ANP was committed to working for the socioeconomic uplift of the Pakhtuns.

“We will not rest until the Pakhtuns got control over their natural resources,” he vowed. The ANP leader recalled that his party government had doubled the royalty of oil and gas to Karak district and. “We will increase it 100 percent if we are voted to power,” he promised.

Sardar Hussain Babak, who is parliamentary leader of the ANP in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, said in his speech that the dwellers of Karak that produced oil and gas were facing acute poverty and were deprived of even the basic amenities of life. He regretted that the incumbent provincial government had not spent any funds on the uplift of Karak and despite having huge resources the district had lagged far behind. Babak said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa produced 6000 megawatts electricity but its distribution system had been installed in Lahore and KP province had no control over its own resources.

He claimed that when the ANP talked about the provincial autonomy then allegations were levelled against it.