CHARSADDA/PESHAWAR: Awami National Party central president Aimal Wali Khan on Monday renewed opposition to any new military operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, insisting Pakhtuns, especially the party’s leaders and workers, were the worst sufferers of the previous military offensives.

Mr Aimal told reporters here that many ANP leaders and workers were martyred in the war against militancy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but they were not even called martyrs.

“If a chicken dies in Punjab, it is called a martyr,” he said.

The ANP leader said “Katcha Dakos” in the Punjab and Sindh provinces were a serious issue but it appeared that it had been resolved without harming the local population.

Says Pakhtuns worst sufferers of previous such offensives

He, however, said the people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were used as fuel for the ongoing war against militants.

“Our province is burning and the people are suffering huge human and property losses, but nobody wants to put out this fire,” he said.

Mr Aimal claimed that Punjab had the Taliban training centres with “Punjabi Taliban” militants leading them, but still terrorist attacks and operations were carried out on Pakhtun soil.

He said he had set a deadline of one month for his demands regarding electricity load-shedding to be met by the government.

The ANP leader said if those demands were ignored, then the party would launch an effective movement to claim Pakhtun rights.

“We are following the politics of Bacha Khan and will go to the every extent to claim our electricity rights. The federal government should give relief to us like Punjab in terms of electricity,” he said.

Mr Aimal said KP produced electricity and was self-sufficient in it, so no one else had the right to determine its rates for the province.

He said there was not a single independent power project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, then why residents of the province should pay bills of power companies.

“It is a pity that they buy electricity from us at the price of water but give it to us at the rate of gold,” he said.

KILLINGS CONDEMNED: ANP president Aimal Wali Khan also condemned the killing of 23 passengers in Musakhel area of Balochistan and bomb blast in Waziristan region.

In a statement issued here on Monday, Mr Aimal said the merciless killing of innocent civilians was unacceptable.

He demanded the implementation of the national action plan to check militancy.

“The perpetrators of passenger killers don’t deserve to be called human beings. Killing innocent people without reason is not justified in any religion,” he said.

The ANP leader expressed concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.

He said the Musakhel incident was an example of the worst law and order situation in the province.

Mr Aimal demanded of the government to take quick action against the killers.

Meanwhile, ANP provincial general secretary Hussain Shah Yousafzai condemned the bomb blast in Razmak Bazaar in North Waziristan tribal district, which claimed four lives.

In a statement issued here on Monday, Mr Yousafzai expressed sorrow over the incident and said the happening of such events throughout the province was fueling a sense of insecurity among residents.

He noted that political activists and ordinary people were being targeted in those attacks, which was part of a series of threats that the ANP had repeatedly highlighted.

The ANP leader emphasised that the only way to put an end to this bloodshed is through the complete implementation of the National Action Plan.

He demanded that the provincial and federal governments ensure the protection of public life and property.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2024