PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party provincial chief Sikandar Khan Sherpao on Friday demanded the status of official language for Pashto in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa like Urdu.

The demand was made in the wake of the Supreme Court’s order for the implementation of Urdu as the official language at all government departments.

Addressing a function in Ghaziabad area here, Sikandar said declaring Urdu official language was a political matter and the government should take all political parties, relevant departments and other stakeholders into confidence before taking any decision for the purpose.

He said all mother languages had their own importance in the development of a society and therefore, his party demanded that the government proclaim Pashto as official language of the province like Urdu.

The QWP leader said prosperous nations had got development by introducing local languages in official matters and other state affairs and that was the main reason for the success of developed countries.

He said proceedings in all provincial assemblies should be in local languages as it would help promote local culture and traditions besides help mitigate the people’s problems.

Sikandar said the overall security in the country had improved over a period of time and that the federal government should take more steps to implement the National Action Plan.

He said the NAP should be extended to all provinces to check crime and terrorism.

The QWP leader said his party was striving to ensure early resolution of the issues and problems facing Pakhtuns.

He urged the federal government to pay net hydel profit arrears to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa without further delay saying it will help speed up work on development projects in the province’s less developed districts.

Sikandar also demanded uninterrupted power supply for the province complaining though the province produced electricity beyond its needs, the people of rural areas were subjected to the excessive loadshedding.

Published in Dawn September 12th, 2015

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