PESHAWAR: Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan has said that the federal government is trying to include Lahore in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and vowed to thwart all moves aimed at depriving the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan of their share in the programme.

“Lahore was not part of the original corridor project, but the federal government is making way to include it in the project at the cost of militancy-stricken KP and Balochistan,” he told participants of a public meeting held on the occasion of Peshawar district party’s convention at Shah Tehmas Football Stadium on Saturday.

The people of smaller provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are the poorest in the country and deserve more attention of the government, he said, adding that hostile attitude of Punjab would not be tolerated.

Mr Asfandyar said that the government was hiding vital information about the corridor project. “We are ready to go to jails. Mian Sahib can arrest us,” he said. The ANP chief said that his party would never support any move aimed at snatching the rightful share of both the smaller provinces in the programme and was ready to go an extra mile to protect the rights of people.

Claims Punjab’s capital was not part of the original project

He said that efforts were afoot at the federal level to change the corridor route and include Lahore in it. He also asked the government to inform the people about the 48 economic zones which were supposed to be established under the multi-billion dollars programme so that the confusion surrounding the project could be removed. Mr Asfandyar said that in past the ANP leaders had been portrayed as traitors when they raised voice for the rights of the people of smaller provinces.

He said that Punjab-centric approach of the federal government wouldn’t be tolerated anymore as the Pakhtun and Baloch people weren’t ready to let others usurp their rights.

He said that ANP wouldn’t allow anyone to grab their rights. He said that CPEC project should be executed to benefit all the provinces equitably. Any decision by the government to bring about changes in the corridor route would create a sense of deprivation among the smaller federating units and the government will not able to face a backlash, he said.

The ANP chief asked the federal government to refrain from taking a controversial decision if it wanted a strong federation. He also said that the PTI-led government had failed to deliver on its election promises. “We completed record development projects during our tenure in the government,” he said.

Other ANP leaders, including Mian Iftikhar Hussain and Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, also spoke on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2015

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