PESHAWAR: Leaders of a representative body of civil society organisations have accused Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of changing the original route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project to please the people of Punjab and win the upcoming local government elections.

Speaking at a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Monday representatives of the Pakhtunkhwa Olasi Tehreek warned to launch a protest movement against the changes to the CPEC. They said the prime minister had assured participants of an all-party conference in May to keep the original route intact but later changed it to ‘appease the people of Lahore’.

Ms Farzana Zain, Sana Ijaz, Gul Nawaz Mohmand, Ajmal Afridi, Tariq Afghan and Taimur Kamal spoke on the occasion.

“We have already met leaders of various political parties, including those from Balochistan, and they all have agreed with the reservations of the Pakhtun belt over the CPEC,” said a leader. Before launching the protest campaign, we will meet leaders of transporters, lawyers, industrialists, business community, students of both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata and also appeal to the general public for extending support in this regard,” he added.

By changing the plan, said another leader, the government had endangered the unity of the nation and increasing unrest among the people of the smaller provinces.

Pakhtuns, the leaders said were the worst affected due to the war on terror and the federal government had further disappointed them by neglecting the Western route of the CPEC.

“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif deceived the participants of the all parties’ conference by changing the CPEC plan which reflected the federal government’s apathy towards Pakhtuns’ welfare,” lamented another leader of the Olasi Tehreek. He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly had also adopted a resolution in support of the CPEC’s western route but the PML-N had ignored it.

“Change in the CPEC route will badly affect the economy of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata,” warned another participant at the press conference.

The civil society activists appealed to the people belonging to various sections of society, including media persons, religious scholars, traders and transporters, to join hands with the Olasi Tehreek to force the federal government to abide by the original CPEC plan.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2015

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