PESHAWAR, Sept 18: The Awami National Party (ANP) has announced to hold rallies at the district level on Sept 26 to protest against government’s intended move of executing Kalabagh dam project.

“The NWFP chapter of the ANP has decided to extend its campaign against the execution of the Kalabagh dam project across the province,” said party’s provincial president Begum Nasim Wali Khan at a press conference at Bacha Khan Markaz here on Wednesday.

Releasing details about the decisions taken by the party’s provincial cabinet which met under her chairmanship, Begum Wali said the scope of the anti-Kalabagh dam movement would be spread across the province to mobilize people against the execution of “this deadly project”.

Rallies and public meetings would be arranged at the district headquarters on Sept 26 to convey ANP’s message, creating awareness in the Pukhtun nation to get united on one platform to protect their land and economic interest, she added.

The mass movement against the construction of the dam would also be utilized to restructure the party at the grassroots level, she further said.

“We are really thankful to President Pervez Musharraf for bringing out this contentious issue from the cold storage,” said Begum Wali, adding: “This has really awakened us and we are conscious enough to struggle for protecting the Pukhtun nation’s rights.”

She said ANP had initiated a move to unite divided Pukhtun nationalist leaders on one platform and as part of its efforts Afrasyab Khattak and Ajmal Khattak had recently been wooed back to the ANP ranks.

Similarly, she said Tribal Democratic Party of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas had also merged into the ANP.

“Other disgruntled Pukhtun nationalist leaders would also be brought back to the ANP fold,” she said without naming anyone.

Taking exception to prime minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali’s recent statement in which he had said that the three provincial assemblies’ unanimously adopted resolutions against the Kalabagh dam did not hold significance, Begum Wali said: “If these resolutions are of no importance then I would remind him that Pakistan also came into being on the basis of a resolution.”

She also questioned the credentials of the prime minister for undermining the significance of the provincial assemblies’ resolutions against the construction of Kalabagh dam.