CHARSADDA: Awami National Party central president Senator Aimal Wali Khan has said that the PTI government, imposed on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 2013, has burdened the province with a debt of Rs1.8 trillion.

“From 1947 to 2012, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s debt totalled Rs80 billion but it ballooned to Rs1.8 trillion by 2024, with most people being without hospitals, schools, roads, and other facilities,” Mr Aimal told a function in Prang area here.

The event was held to welcome former JUI-F election candidate Mohammad Ahmad Khan to the party along with his family members and supporters.

The ANP leader said that those who wanted to eliminate ANP from the political scene had miserably failed.

He claimed that the people’s mandate for his party was stolen in the last general elections.

“A fake public mandate has been imposed on Pakhtuns in the province for the last 13 years,” he said.

Mr Aimal said the party would continue striving for Pashtun rights.

He said the ruling PTI had made a compromise on the rights of Pashtuns.

The ANP leader criticised the chief minister for “using the province’s resources to serve personal ends while ignoring the people’s needs.”

On the occasion, ANP provincial president Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the party’s primary concern was the poor law and order situation in the province. He said the PTI government had miserably failed to protect public life and property.

Mr Hussain accused the chief minister of acting as a “bridge” between the military establishment and his party leader Imran Khan to protect own interests.

He complained about the surging incidents of terrorism in the province and claimed that authorities had “advised” the police in southern districts not to step out at night for their safety.

The ANP leader said that his party’s government ensured elimination of terrorism but currently, the ruling PTI and terrorists were working together.

He accused former spymaster Lt-General Faiz Hameed of handing over certain areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to terrorists and said the wrong policy was responsible for the current terrorist attacks in the province.

Mr Hussain called for a change in the foreign policy to eliminate terrorism and said the National Action Plan should be enforced effectively and a crackdown should be launched on terrorist organisations in Punjab.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2024