PESHAWAR: A multi-party conference on Saturday asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to fulfil the commitment he had made during the All Parties Conference (APC) on May 28 on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to redress the grievances of smaller provinces and warned that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would not accept any other option except implementation of the original plan of Western route.

The conference was held under the aegis of Pakhtunkhwa Olasi Tehreek (POT) at the Peshawar Press Club where Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao was the chief guest. Prominent among the speakers were Awami National Party central general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Jamaat-i-Islami provincial chief Prof Mohammad Ibrahim, POT chairman Dr Said Alan Mehsud and senior lawyer Abdul Lateef Afridi.

QWP provincial chairman MPA Sikandar Sherpao, ANP provincial general secretary MPA Sardar Hussain Babak, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf women wing leader Farzana Zain, JI provincial general secretary Shabir Ahmed, JUI-F leader Maulana Ainuddin Shakir, former deputy speaker Khushdil Khan and civil society representatives were also present on the occasion.

Through a unanimous resolution the conference resolved that it would not accept ‘China-Punjab Economic Corridor’ and asked the prime minister to implement the original plan otherwise he would be responsible for any crisis.

Aftab Sherpao said that implementation of the original plan of CPEC was a matter of great significance for the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that Mr Sharif had promised to resolve the issue once and for all and now there was no room for any alteration in the corridor route.

“We belong to different political parties, but have to take a firm and unified stand on the issue as it is now a matter of our common interests and future of Pakhtun nation,” he said and urged the people to join hands for the cause. He said that the rulers must keep the East Pakistan debacle in mind and avoid taking any irresponsible decision which could harm the federation.

“We are thankful to our time-tested friend China for its every support and expect that CPEC will prove equally beneficial for all the provinces and Fata,” he said and added that Pakhtuns could not be suppressed to raise voice for their rights and justice. He said that the KP, Fata and Balochistan were facing the worst kind of unemployment and the government should fully implement the 18th amendment to overcome the problems because it was their constitutional right to make progress by availing the opportunity to use their own resources.

Mr Sherpao linked CPEC to restoration of peace in the region, saying that if the original plan was implemented it would also have a positive impact on the economy of Afghanistan, which would in turn ensure sustainable peace. “We have reservations and the government is duty-bound to satisfy us. The government is yet to pay us the arrears of net hydel profit of up to Rs100 billion. If we are not given our constitutional rights then why we should give our electricity to it (centre),” he said.

The QWP chairman said that the population of KP and Fata had increased manifold, but the federal government was reluctant to conduct census to release funds on its basis. Giving an example, he said that population of North Waziristan had reached two million, but it was still shown 0.6 million in the documents. He said that the government had allocated Rs42 billion for the Metro Bus, but it did not bother to increase Fata’s budget from Rs21 billion.

ANP leader Iftikhar Hussain said that alteration in the original route was meant to benefit Punjab at the cost of rights of the smaller provinces. He said that both KP and Balochistan had been ignored and even the inhabitants of Gwadar were not allowed to continue fishing and earn livelihood.

“We have always raised our voice against change in the route, but JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and PkMAP president Mehmood Khan Achakzai openly supported the federal government,” he said.

Mr Hussain recalled that the prime minister had assured them in the Islamabad APC to implement the original route, but federal minister Ahsan Iqbal failed to satisfy the participants.

Prof Ibrahim said that the federal government had abandoned both the KP and Fata, which were facing a grave economic crisis. He said that being part of the federation they were intentionally ignored. “The government should do justice, give rights to the deserving people and avoid making the CPEC controversial,” the JI leader said.

Earlier, Mr Mehsud gave a presentation on the CPEC plan, its proposed budget and the latest situation.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2015

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