PESHAWAR, Feb 27: Barrister Bacha has rejoined the Awami National Party and vowed to work for the betterment of the Pakhtun nation from the party platform.

Mr Bacha, who had parted ways with the ANP when the US-led forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001, said he had opposed the “massacre of Pakhtuns after 9/11”, but had not joined any other political party. He termed his estranged relations with the ANP as “lovers’ quarrel”, which should not be taken as separation from the party.

He claimed that the ANP was the only political force which could work for the rights of Pakhtuns.

He said the ANP forefathers had struggled against the British imperialism and wrested independence from the British rulers and the party’s present leadership was following in their footsteps. He said he could not tolerate suppression and exploitation of his nation. In future, he said, he would adhere to the ANP political line and follow its discipline. He hoped that ANP leaders would keep him up to date about party’s stands on various issues.

Speaking on the occasion, ANP senior vice-president Ghulam Ahmad Bilour welcomed Mr Bacha’s rejoining the party and said despite his estrangement, he (Bacha) had been a diehard supporter of Pakhtun nationalism.

Mr Bilour said his party had weathered ups and downs in politics, but had never abandoned its principled stand on national and international issues. He said every political party today was talking about provincial autonomy, but his party leadership had raised the issue soon after the creation of the country. He said the ANP was part of the opposition struggling against the military rule in the country. He said the army had no role to play in politics and it should restrict to its constitutional role of protecting the country’s borders.

He said secret agencies should also stay away from active politics and they should be subordinate to government policies.

He said Gen Pervez Musharraf could not get himself re-elected from the present assemblies. He said Gen Musharraf’s tenure would end with the dissolution of parliament and he could not “deceive the world and the nation”.

Mr Bilour said the ANP would make electoral alliance with political parties on its own conditions. He said Gen Musharraf had no option but to hold the general election because a majority of Democrats in the US Congress would not allow him to manoeuvre the elections.

He said his party had never been part of any military government. But he kept mum when told that his party had persuaded Gen Ziaul Haq to hold accountability prior to the general elections and, thus, had paved the way for military rule in the country. He again did not reply when asked where his party was standing in the opposition to the present government, with the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal or the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement.

ANP leaders Afzal Khan Lala, Mohammad Adeel, Zahid Khan and Latif Afridi were also present.