PESHAWAR, Oct 17: Awami National Party provincial chief Afrasiab Khattak has advised the party activists to work for the success of party candidates in the coming elections it was a defining moment for Pakhtuns in history.

He said that either they (Pakhtuns) would find themselves fighting for their survivors if they failed to rise to the occasion or they would be mastering their destiny after winning the elections.

Talking to party workers at the ANP secretariat (Bacha Khan Markaz) on Wednesday, Mr Khattak said that Pakhtuns were being persecuted on the charges of harbouring terrorists from Waziristan to Bajaur.

Saqibullah Khan Chamkani, who applied for the ANP ticket for a provincial assembly seat from Peshawar, was also present on the occasion.

Mr Khattak said that Pakhtuns’ houses were being razed and their children being killed by aerial bombing in the tribal belt.

He said the ANP was adhered to political philosophy of non-violence preached by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in the united India.

He said that Pakhtuns were being dubbed as intolerant by rulers, but they had nothing to do with religious and sectarian violence in Fata.

He said the government was involved in tarnishing the image of Pakhtuns. He asked workers to contact people and educate them about the conspiracies allegedly hatched by rulers. He said the religious forces had failed to deliver during their tenure in power.