Govt warned against making any changes in CPEC route

SWABI: Leaders belonging to various political parties on Saturday said that the federal government had violated the pledges made in the All Parties Conference (APC) on May 2015 about original plan of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and announced to start a protest movement. They were speaking at a convention organised by Pakhtunkhwa Ulasi Tehreek at the Haqqani Library Hall here.

The PTI parliamentarians, leaders of Qaumi Watan Party, Jamaat-i-Islami, Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Awami Workers Party and various welfare bodies as well as representatives of the local government participated in the event titled “Corridor Convention.” They said the CPEC was a matter of life and death for the Pakhtuns and they would never allow any change in the original route of the game changer project. Salim Khan, a former senior vice-president of Qaumi Watan Party, said that Punjab always exploited the resources of Pakhuns but this exploitation must come to an end. He said though Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was self-sufficient in petroleum, gas and electricity, it was being denied its due rights. He also demanded shifting of the Wapda House from Lahore to Peshawar.

District Nazim Ameer Rehman accused that the Punjab leaders always misleading Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and keeping its people deprived of own resources. Member National Assembly Aqibullah Khan, Ghafoor Khan Jadoon, former provincial food minister, and leaders of other political parties also spoke on the occasion. Earlier, Dr Said Alam Mahsud of Pakhtunkhwa Ulasi Tehreek briefed the participants about CPEC and pinpointed the changes made in the corridor in favour of Punjab province.