PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf central leader and MNA Asad Qaiser on Friday said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was being pushed into a new war.

“Our province has always been used as a cannon fodder for the wars of others,” Mr Qaiser told a news conference at the residence of PTI MNA Asif Khan here.

The PTI leader said KP had the Kalashnikov culture only after the country joined Afghanistan’s fight against Russian occupation forces.

He said that KP, especially Peshawar and tribal districts, suffered a lot in the war against terrorism.

“We no longer want to be cannon fodder for wars or proxies,” he said.

Mr Qaiser warned that if another war was imposed on Pakhtuns, they would rise up.

He said the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas were merged with KP by legislation with the promise of providing three per cent of the National Finance Commission Award for the development of that war-torn region, but the promise wasn’t fulfilled.

The PTI leader said that the centre was committed an injustice to the people of KP by not releasing funds for their development just because they voted for the PTI.

He demanded the federal government clear all KP’s dues without delay.

Mr Qaiser insisted that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif raised the vote ko izzat do (respect the vote) narrative before the February 8 elections but later didn’t respect the voters’ mandate for the PTI to rule the country.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2024