Use of insulting name for Peshawar: ANP asks Imran to offer apology

PESHAWAR: The Awami National Party (ANP) on Wednesday condemned the insulting name allegedly used for the Peshawar city by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman and ousted prime minister Imran Khan in the past for collecting funds for his party.

The ANP members gathered in front of Peshawar Press Club to express anger at the PTI chief for allegedly using insulting name for Peshawar team during a fund-raising match for his party abroad.

The ANP provincial spokesperson Samar Haroon Bilour, who has been elected on a general seat from Peshawar, led the protest.

The protesters chanted slogans against Imran Khan and asked him to apologise to the dwellers of Peshawar, in particular, and residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in general for the insulting appellation used by him.

Member Provincial Assembly Samar Haroon Bilour, the widow of Haroon Bilour, said Peshawar was once the city of flowers and is the heart of the entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but the PTI chief had given it a bad name during cricket matches arranged for fund-raising for his party abroad.

She said the people of Peshawar city would not tolerate the humiliation of the city. “The PTI chief must apologise to the people of Peshawar and offer regrets for using a bad name for Peshawar,” she added.

The Awami National Party leader said the Election Commission of Pakistan has exposed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief who, she alleged, received foreign funding for his party, even from Indian nationals and other multinational firms.

Samar Bilour said Imran Khan must learn about the history, traditions, and values of the cities and people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as his party had got maximum seats during the past two elections from this province.