Rising incidents of terrorism: Sherpao asks govt to implement national action plan

PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Saturday expressed concern over the rising incidents of terrorism in the country and asked the government to implement the national action plan (NAP) in letter and spirit.

Speaking at a press conference at Watan Kor, the party’s headquarters, he said the security situation was deteriorating day by day, urging the government to take steps to bring it under control.

On the occasion, a large number of people led by former MPA Dr. Faiza Rasheed, including Malik Munsif Khan, Mudassir Khan, Mahnoor Sadiq, members of the Christian community Amir Chand and Shahnaz Begum announced joining the QWP. They all belonged to Haripur district.

They reposed confidence in the QWP leadership and vowed to work for strengthening the party at the grassroots in Haripur. Aftab Sherpao warned the government against any bid to change the basic structure of the constitution. “The constitution would lose its utility if its basic structure was changed,” he feared.

He also opposed giving the administrative control of Karachi to the federal government, saying that the port city was part of Sindh and the centre should not meddle in its affairs. Expressing sorrow and grief over the loss of lives in the recent rains and floods in the province, the QWP leader asked the government to announce compensation for the affected people.

He reiterated the demand for holding fresh elections in the country, saying that the last general election was rigged in favour of Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf. He announced that his party would actively participate in the all parties conference of the opposition to get rid of this government. The QWP leader urged the opposition parties to play an effective role to save democracy and the country.

“The Parliament is also losing its utility the way it is being run,” he went on to add. Coming down hard on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, he said the rulers did not have the ability to steer the country out of the prevailing crises.

He said the prices of the daily use items including sugar and wheat flour had recorded a sharp increase. “The price-hike has dented the purchasing power of the consumers, but the government is least bothered to provide them any relief,” he added.

Aftab Sherpao said that though the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was producing more electricity than its consumption, its residents were facing prolonged outages. He also flayed the government for raising the power tariff. He welcomed the prisoners swap agreement, saying that it would pave the way for the intra-Afghan dialogue as it would help restore peace in Afghanistan.

The senior politician said that stability in Pakistan was linked to peace in Afghanistan. He hoped that the entire region would benefit from the restoration of peace in the war-strife country. He asked the Afghan government and the Taliban to set aside the past bitterness and jointly work to bring stability to the country.