CHARSADDA/NOWSHERA: Awami National Party provincial general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain has said that his party would not allow Imran Khan, Tahirul Qadri or any other force, including army, to derail democracy through unconstitutional steps.

Addressing a public meeting in Babara here on Wednesday, he said that Imran Khan was dreaming to capture Islamabad by force.

Mian Iftikhar said that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf led coalition government had completely failed in addressing core issues of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said that Imran Khan was looking for lame excuses to get rid of the provincial government.

The public meeting was organised in connection with the anniversary of infamous Babara firing incident in 1948 in which according to ANP over 600 followers of Non-Violence Movement of Bacha Khan were killed.

The ANP leader said that despite serious reservations on the results of the last general elections, ANP accepted the mandate of Pakistan Muslim League-N and PTI.

He said that the people had given mandate to the two parties and they should be allowed to complete their five year tenures.

Mian Iftikhar said that his party would not let the PTI and its coalition partners run away from the government and would make them accountable in the public court.

He said that ANP wanted result-oriented action against all militant groups, including the Haqqani Network. He said that militancy could not be wiped out from the country until America, Pakistan and Afghanistan formulated joint strategy to combat terrorism.

In Nowshera, the local chapter of Awami National Party has accused both the provincial and the central governments of fighting over non-issues and ignoring rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons of North Waziristan Agency.

ANP district president Malik Jumma Khan, addressing a workers meeting here on Tuesday, said that the IDPs were rendering unprecedented sacrifices for restoration of peace to the country, but the government wasn’t sincere in resolving their problems.

Jumma Khan called for diverting the money being spent to organise the ‘Azadi March’ towards the welfare of IDPs. He stated that the history would never forgive Imran Khan for starting anti-government campaign at a time when he was most desired to ensure look after of the displaced persons.

“PTI should not have accepted the election results from the day one, and crying foul at a time when the Pak Army is fighting against militants to protect the country is uncalled for,” said the ANP leader.

He paid rich tribute to the army for launching operation against militancy.

ANP general secretary Nowshera Khushal Khan, Naveed, Noor Alam, Shahid Riaz advocate, Haji Akram Shah, Perveen Gul and others also spoke on the occasion.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-i-Islami, Nowshera naib amir Haji Inayatur Rehman has demanded of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Inasf chief Imran Khan to also include in his demands the audit of ‘vote fraud’ in NA-5 and PK-16 constituencies, if he was really sincere in his call for recounting in certain constituencies.

Talking to mediapersons on Tuesday, he said that the results in both the constituencies in the district were manipulated.

“All illegal means were used to change the results, and we demand recounting through fingerprints to rectify the situation,” he demanded.

Published in Dawn, Aug 13th, 2014