MARDAN: Awami National Party-Wali (ANP-W) chairperson Begum Nasim Wali Khan has said that she was forced to rejoin active politics in her 80s owing to the wrong policies of Awami National Party’s leadership.

Speaking at a meeting here on Friday at the residence of Ameer Nawab Khan, the party’s district president, Begum Nasim said that she remained away from the ANP’s affairs for seven years and gave opportunity to Asfandyar Wali Khan and other party leadership to not only spread the philosophy of peace of Bacha Khan, but also unite the Pakhtun nation, but they miserably failed.

She lamented that the so-called champions of the rights of Pakhtuns had done noting for them and instead took dollars from Americans for giving them free hand to do whatever they wanted on the soil of Pakhtuns.

She said that Asfandyar and fellow leadership of ANP had made mockery of philosophy of Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan and ran the party against his philosophy of non-violence.

“Khudai Khidmatgars are the real heirs of the politics of Bacha Khan,” she said, adding that the provincial assembly seats of ANP reduced to three from 33 in the last general elections owing to the bad performance and poor governance of previous ANP-led provincial government.

She asked the disgruntled activists of Bacha Khan and Wali Khan’s philosophy who had quit politics due to wrong policies of ANP leadership, to join hands with her for getting rights of Pakhtuns. Party’s general secretary Farid Toofan said that they would not only save ANP, but also bring it back on the right track as per the vision of Bacha Khan.