PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) is planning to set up a fund to provide assistance to the families of its workers killed by terrorists.

“The party threads the path of non-violence which made us the worst enemies of terrorists,” said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the provincial general secretary of ANP.

He said that he had recently proposed at a condolence meeting in Mingora where militants had killed ANP leader Khalilullah that the party required to establish a fund to extend financial assistance to the families of those killed by terrorists.

“To acknowledge the services of the workers who fell prey to attacks by militants, we should raise fund to give permanent assistance to the victims’ families,” Mr Hussain told Dawn.

He said that militants were in no mood to let the ANP leaders and workers off the hook and so far about 850 were killed by terrorists. He claimed that they worked against terrorism through advancement of love, brotherhood and on the top of it non-violence philosophy of Bacha Khan.

“ANP stands alone in the fight against militants,” Mr Hussain said. He said that they were still targeted by militants though the ANP government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa no longer existed.

“They (militants) know that only our people were their ideological enemies and therefore the campaign against them was never stopped,” he said.

Mr Hussain said that militants seldom targeted the people, who were at the helm of affairs either at the centre or in the province but ANP bore the brunt.

Khalilullah was fifth member of the same family who was killed by terrorists. “ANP will not budge an inch from its stated position it had taken against terrorism in the country. We are not afraid of giving more sacrifices,” he said.

Militants also killed Hussain’s only son in July 2010. But he, being information minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, continued to condemn militants more vigorously.

“The government pays one-time compensation to the victims of terrorism but that it is not sufficient for the rest of the members of the families, who lose their male members,” the ANP leader said.

According to him, the proposal will be discussed in near future to make it possible that the affected families get some help. “We have asked the tehsil and district organisations to send information regarding the workers killed by militants. We are compiling data. Most of the peace committee members killed in targeted attacks also belonged to ANP,” Mr Hussain said.

He said that his party ruled the province from 2008 to 2013 and suffered heavily for opposing militancy. “We have restricted the party’s leader Asfandyar Wali Khan from venturing out in public due to his safety. We need him to lead us in our campaign for peace,” the ANP leader said.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2014