SWABI: Qaumi Watan Party provincial president Sikandar Hayat Sherpao said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Imran Khan should apologise to the Pakhtuns for what he said calling them Taliban sympathisers.

Addressing party workers in Baja village and later talking to mediapersons here, he said Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had got a big boost in elections in the Pakhtun regions, but now the party’s head was calling them fundamentalists.

He said the PTI leadership should read the history that how much sacrifices the Pakhtuns had rendered for the country’s independence and during the war against terrorism.

Sikandar Sherpao said the country’s economy had turned feeble and the government was putting more financial burden on the citizens, who had already been hard hit by rising inflation.

“Prices of essential commodities are climbing with each passing day, but the rulers only issue hollow statements that dearness will be arrested,” he said.

“The government has only added to the woes of people during the last three years,” he said, adding rupee had constantly been depreciating against the US dollar, thus gravely eroding the purchasing power of people. The expected deal with the International Monetary Fund would put more pressure on the people because the government would accept new conditions of the lending agency, he said.

The QWP leader called on the party workers to get ready for the next general elections as the incumbent government was going to pack up due to its wrong policies.

Afghan killed: An Afghan refugee was shot dead over a dispute concerning a transgender person on Tuesday, the police said.

Registering an FIR with the Swabi city police station, Mira Khan, an Afghan living in Gohati refugee camp, said his brother, Haya Khan had developed rivalry with a local, Waqas Khan, over relations with a transgender person.

SHO Ajab Durrani said Waqas Khan, hailing from Kala Khuroo area, opened fire on Haya Khan, injuring him seriously. He succumbed to his injuries while being shifted to the Bacha Khan Hospital Complex, Shahmansoor.

The complainant told the police that the victim and the accused had also clashed over the issue in the past.

The city police registered an FIR and started further investigations.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2021