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| June 08, 2006 | Thursday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 11, 1427 |
ANP says ‘charter’ silent on autonomy
PESHAWAR, June 7: Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan has observed that the Charter of Democracy signed by the People’s Party Parliamentarians and the Pakistan Muslim League-N is silent on the issue of provincial autonomy.
He said no political party would oppose the charter because it contained some common political points but it did not have some specific points which his party wanted to be included in it.
He said the charter did not guarantee provincial autonomy, which was the core of ANP’s politics. “It has been our demand that the provinces should have complete control over their resources, but the charter does not have any such guarantee,” he added.
The ANP president was briefing journalists after a meeting of the party’s central executive committee at the Bacha Khan Centre here on Wednesday.
About the military operation in Waziristan, Mr Khan said Pakhtuns had nothing to do with terrorism or Taliban and the present war in Fata was the second episode of the 10-year long war between the US and former Soviet Union which was fought on the Afghan soil. He said only Afghans were the loser in that war and now once again Pakhtuns were being used in the war.
He said negotiation was the only solution to the ongoing war-like situation in Waziristan and other parts of Fata.
He said the ANP had been opposing use of force against Afghans and Pakhtuns, but the rulers had always tried to solve differences with their own people through force.
He regretted that helicopters were being used against people in Waziristan and Balochistan. He warned that the war being imposed on tribesmen could spread to settled areas.
The ANP chief said the military rulers were repeating the same mistake they had committed in the former East Pakistan in 1971 by imposing a military solution on the Bengali people.
Mr Khan reiterated that the ANP had not accepted Gen Pervez Musharraf as a constitutional president, neither would it recognise him as president in future.
He said a peaceful Afghanistan was in favour of Pakistan, and disturbance in Afghanistan could spread to Pakistan. He asked the government to ensure permanent peace along the border with Afghanistan.
He said he had visited the US and other western countries to apprise them of atrocities being committed against Pakhtuns in the name of war on terrorism.
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