PESHAWAR: Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan on Monday urged the government to hold talks with the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement and meet its genuine demands.

“This (PTM’s) is a political issue and therefore, it should be resolved through negotiations. Instead of taking credit, the government should meet the demands of the PTM,” he told a Jashan-i-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa function at the party’s central secretariat here.

The event was held to mark the anniversary of the renaming of the North West Frontier Province.

Mr Asfandyar said his party, too, was ready to hold talks with the PTM.

The PTM, a social movement in the Pakhtun-populated areas of the country, demands the release of missing persons and removal of unnecessary checkposts and clearance of landmines from the conflict-stricken areas of Fata.

The ANP leader expressed concern about the current state of affairs in the tribal region and demanded its early merger with KP.

He demanded of the federal government to make amendments to the Constitution and give representation to the people of tribal areas in the KP Assembly in the next general elections.

Mr Asfandyar said the government should ask the Election Commission of Pakistan to declare constituencies in Fata for the provincial assembly.

He said the federal government would be responsible for any adverse consequences if tribal people were not given representation in the KP Assembly forthwith.

The ANP leader said the people of tribal areas had been ignored for the last 70 years with the successive governments failing to establish a single university in the region.

He said a great sense of deprivation prevailed among the people of tribal areas and that the prevailing situation had forced them to migrate to other areas of the country.

He demanded the construction of highway to link all tribal agencies.

Mr Asfandyar credited his party for renaming the province and giving identity to Pakhtuns across the country. He said Pakhtuns had no identity for 250 years.

The ANP leader also acknowledged the contribution and efforts of former president Asif Ali Zardari in the province’s renaming.

He said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had backed out from his commitment to give identity to the Pakhtuns. Mr Asfandyar urged workers to start preparations for the general elections.

Addressing the function, ANP central general secretary Main Iftikhar Hussain said the party leaders always fought the case of Pakhtuns at all forums and finally secured the constitutional rights of them, especially provincial autonomy. He said the party had made a great struggle for getting the province’s name changed as desired by Pakhtuns.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2018