PESHAWAR, Jan 25: Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan has said his party will not endorse any constitutional amendment, which does not guarantee the rights of provinces.

Speaking on the 20th death anniversary of Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan here at the Nishtar Hall on Sunday, he said it was a season of amendments as everybody was making tall claim of restoring the constitution in its original form.

“Constitutions are not framed everyday. I am opposed to the 17th Amendment and I think it should be repealed, but it is not the exact solution to our problems. The solution lies in the grant of political autonomy. The delegation of administrative and financial autonomy is necessary to make Pakistan a progressive, stable and dynamic federation,” he added.

He said his party was ready to review the constitution clause by clause, but it would not be a party to any fishy matter. He said ANP would support the movers, if they were ready to incorporate its demands into the package, otherwise “we are not ready to extend our shoulders to opportunists.”

Referring to mounting tension in the region, he said war was not a solution of any dispute. He called upon India, Pakistan and Afghanistan to sit together and sort out their matters. He said a peaceful Afghanistan was necessary for Pakistan, and a peaceful Pakistan was inevitable for India, and a peaceful India was necessary for Pakistan and Afghanistan. He said all the three states were faced with the growing menace of terrorism and it was their duty to confront it collectively.

He said Afghanistan had braved different aggressors throughout its history. He warned that if war broke out between the two atomic states, India and Pakistan, it would be a total destruction for the entire region. He requested the governments and people of both states to end hostilities and find out a permanent solution to their problems through dialogue.

Mr Khan also lashed out at the militants and said they had been promoting bloodshed in the name of Islam in Afghanistan, Fata and Swat. He said it was not Islam to desecrate a grave and hook the dead boy with a tree, as the militant did in Swat. He said it was not a war between Islam and infidelity, instead it was terrorism.

He reiterated that he was ready to pardon the mastermind of a suicide attack on him, if they too were ready to abandon the path of terrorism. He said one could not establish any system through the barrel of gun.Recalling atrocities in former East Pakistan, he said the then rulers had tried their guns to bring the peace, but despite the bloodshed they failed to retain the country intact. He regretted that the rulers had learnt nothing from history.

He paid rich tributes to his grandfather, Bacha Khan, and said he had consciously adopted the path of non-violence and peace and forced the British masters to quit the subcontinent.

He said his late father, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, struggled for the provincial autonomy and bore the brunt of rulers, particularly the usurpers. He said Bacha Khan and Wali Khan had opposed Afghan war and termed it anarchy rather than holy war. The time had proved that it was not a holy war; instead it brought a destruction of Pakhtuns.

Speaking on the occasion, Begum Nasim Wali Khan said Pakhtuns were main losers in the battle being played on their soil. She said Pakhtuns were being killed at the hands of Pakhtun killers. She said it was a path of destruction. She prayed that God may bless Pakhtuns with reason so that they make a difference between right and wrong.

The ongoing tide of terrorism, she said, was uprooting Pakhtuns from their ancestral abodes. She said the fire being fueled in Afghanistan might engulf the region up to Somnath.

ANP provincial chief Afrasiab Khattak said Pakhtuns had fought against Alexander the Great, Gangez Khan, Mughals, Sikhs, British crown and they would certainly fight against terrorists. He said the enemies wanted to turn the Pakhtun areas into ruins. He said Bacha Khan had adopted the path of peace. He said the ANP would adhere to the political philosophy of Bacha Khan.

Meanwhile, public meetings were also organised in other parts of NWFP and tribal areas on Sunday to mark the death anniversaries of Bacha Khan Khan Abdul Wali Khan.

ANP activists and leaders paid rich tribute to both the leaders in the meetings organised in Karak, Nowshera, Charsadda, Mardan, Swabi, Lakki Marwat and Chitral.