8th death anniversary: Glowing tributes paid to late Bashir Bilour

PESHAWAR: Speakers paid rich tributes to late Bashir Ahmad Bilour at a function arranged at the Bacha Khan Markaz on Tuesday to mark his eight death anniversary and other party workers.

Bashir Ahmed Bilour was martyred in a suicide bombing at Dhakki Munawwar Shah, near Qissa Khwani in Peshawar on December 22, 2012 in which nine people were killed and 18 injured.

He was a senior leader of the ANP and was elected as a member of the provincial assembly for five consecutive terms from his Peshawar constituency. He also served as provincial president of ANP twice.

His son, Haroon Bashir Bilour, was also martyred in a suicide attack in Peshawar. The attack took place on July 11, 2018 during the election campaign in which he was contesting for a provincial assembly seat on the ANP ticket. His widow, Samar Haroon Bilour was later elected MPA in the by-election on this seat.

ANP provincial chapter chief Aimal Wali Khan, secretary-general Mian Iftikhar Hussain, provincial general secretary and parliamentary party leader in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Sardar Hussain Babak, ANP MPA and provincial spokesperson Samar Haroon Bilour and others paid rich tributes to late Bashir Ahmad Bilour.

They paid glowing tributes to Bashir Bilour and other ANP workers who died in terrorist attacks.

ANP senior leader Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, elder brother of Bashir Ahmad Bilour, said that his family had been targeted by the terrorists who killed his brother and nephew but they did not deviate from its stand against militancy.

“The state and nation must acknowledge the sacrifices of ANP for the sake of peace and stability of the country,” he added.

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) spokesperson and Awami National Party (ANP) Central General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that after staging protest rallies at the divisional level, the opposition parties’ the alliance would march towards Islamabad to topple Imran Khan’s government.

He said that the ‘selected’ prime minister was afraid of the PDM’s protest rallies and wanted to hold Senate election prior to its schedule.

“The entire nation has risen up against the PTI government. Therefore, Prime Minister Imran Khan has no option, but to step down,” the ANP leader said and added that the opposition parties had united under the PDM platform to oust Imran Khan from power.

Mian Iftikhar said the ANP had fought militancy and terrorism and rendered numerous sacrifices including the martyrdom of Bashir Bilour for the restoration of peace in the country.

He said some terrorist organizations and networks were re-organizing under different names and the government must take notice and take practical steps to prevent them from staging subversive activities.

“The government must implement the National Action Plan in its true spirit to end terrorism,” he said and added that the success of intra-Afghan dialogue would not only in the interest of Afghanistan but in the favour of the entire region, including Pakistan.

ANP provincial president Aimal Wali Khan said that his party’s lawmakers would resign from the national and provincial assemblies as per the decision of the PDM.

He maintained that the ANP workers would actively participate in the PDM’s rallies at divisional level and they would not hesitate to march towards Islamabad.

“We fully support the narrative of the PDM and would continue our struggle till the removal of the incumbent government,” he vowed, adding that the establishment imposed Imran Khan on the nation by stealing the public mandate.

However, the ANP leader said the party would fully participate in the upcoming by-elections in the province.

Aimal Wali said the ANP had never compromised on its principled stand and had remained in the frontline at a time when the terrorists were targeting its leaders and workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the rest of the country.

He said the ANP would observe the death anniversaries of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Khan Abdul Wali Khan in January and mark hundred years of Khudai Khidamatgar and Islah-e-Afghania movement in 2021.