PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) provincial president Aimal Wali Khan has demanded of Afghanistan’s interim government to complete the democratic and political system by empowering citizens for electing their representatives.

Mr Khan made this demand this during his meeting with the interim Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Mohammad Muttaqi at a lunch reception hosted by the Embassy of the Afghanistan in Islamabad on Sunday.

The ANP’s provincial president, who shared a statement on his official facebook page, stated that there was evidence of Afghan soil being used against Pakistan. He said calls were being made from Afghanistan demanding extortion from residents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan.

“Militants’ safe havens in Afghanistan should be dismantled,” Mr Khan said.

The ANP’s provincial president also told the interim Afghan foreign minister that girls in Afghanistan should be given the right to education.

He told Muttaqi that previous Afghan government used to offer scholarships to male and female students [which was stopped after interim government came into power] and that should also be resumed.

He stated that many Pakistan students, enrolled in Afghanistan, left for Pakistan after Aug 15, 2021, and their studies were incomplete adding the students should be allowed and their studies should resume.

Mr Khan demanded that the trade routes from

Nawapas to Torkham should be reopened.

He also stated that the previous government completed the reconstruction of Bacha Khan’s mausoleum in Jalalabad (Afghanistan) and the interim government should make arrangements for its inauguration.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2023