PESHAWAR, Sept 29: Former chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ameer Haidar Khan Hoti has said that he will support Asfandyar Wali Khan as a Pakhtun leader and those throwing dirt in his direction should be taken to task to give a loud message to ‘mutineers’.

In an apparent reference to the ongoing controversy generated by his father and former federal minister Azam Khan Hoti’s statement against Awami National Party president, he said that Mr Asfandyar’s politics was the continuation of the movement started by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan) and Abdul Wali Khan.

In a statement he issued on return from his China visit on Sunday, Haider Hoti said that he accorded preference to the Pakhtun movement than relation and was ready to show that for the sake of founders of Pakhtun movement.

He ridiculed the statement issued by his father Azam Hoti, who had been served a show cause by the party’s organising committee. Haider Hoti termed the issuance of the notice a step in the right direction and asked the leadership to take strict action against the senior leader to set an example for others.

He said that under the leadership of Mr Asfandyar the province got its identity and the dream of Bacha Khan and Wali Khan to get provincial autonomy also came true. He praised Mr Asfandyar for his leadership capabilities and said that despite law and order situation it was his leadership that they implemented their election manifesto.

The controversy emerged in the party on Wednesday last when a statement was issued by Azam Hoti wherein he had held the party leadership responsible for the massive defeat in general election and also levelled other allegations.

Haider Hoti said that it was under Mr Asfandyar’s leadership that the party enjoyed representation in three provincial assemblies during 2008-2013 and emerged a bigger party in the Senate. He reposed full confidence in his leadership.

He said that there was no second opinion that the people who doubted Mr Asfandyar’s leadership were under misconception as all Pakhtuns regarded him as symbol of unity and federation in the country.

Haider Hoti, who is MNA, said that the statement against Mr Asfandyar was intolerable for all the party activists.