ISLAMABAD: Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party's (PkMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai on Thursday said his statement terming Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) a province 'belonging to the Afghans' had been taken out of context after a subsequent uproar on social media.
Achakzai had earlier stated in an interview with Afghanistan Times that "if Afghans are harassed in other parts of Pakistan, they should come here to KP, where no one can ask them for refugee cards, because it also belongs to them."
The Durand Line, a 1,400-mile-long porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, is not officially recognised by Afghan authorities as an international border.
On DawnNews' 'Zara Hut Ke' programme, journalist Zarrar Khuhro asked Achakzai: "It appears that you are saying that the Afghan government is entitled to KP. What did you really mean?"
Know more: KP belongs to Afghans, no one can force them out: Mahmood Achakzai
The PkMap chief clarified that if Punjab, Balochistan or Sindh were unwilling to accommodate Afghan refugees, they should come to KP.
Achakzai said that if Afghan refugees are living in Pakistan under agreement with the United Nations (UN), they should be provided an Afghan identity card.
He maintained, however, that he does not mean every Afghan national in the country should receive that card.
"The way Pakistani and Indian expats along with other foreign nationals are accommodated in Dubai where they run their own businesses, the same way Afghan nationals residing in Pakistan should be given identity cards because they are our guests."
"We will not let people create undue hurdles for Afghan refugees. There are large numbers of Afghan and Uzbeks in Quetta and Balochistan who are involved in development in the province and referring to them as terrorists would be unfair," he said.
Achakzai's statements come as the validity period of the ‘Proof of Registration’ cards allowing Afghan refugees to stay in Pakistan expired on June 30, 2016.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday granted an extension in the stay of registered Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan for a period of six months till December 31, 2016.
