PESHAWAR, Nov 28: The religious scholars, who could promote the true spirit of Islam, were welcomed in Awami National Party, said Afrasiab Khattak, the provincial president of the party, here on Wednesday.

Addressing a ceremony, held to mark joining of ANP by Tufail Ahmed Jan Zakori of Lakki Marwat, he said that his party accorded great respect to those religious scholars, who could spread the true message of Islam.

Mr Khattak said that they had always kept their door open for the religious scholars because they held ulema in high esteem. “After joining of ANP by Mr Zakori, we will get more strength in southern districts of the province,” he said.

The ANP provincial chief claimed that popularity graph of his party had risen over the past four years owing to its services for the masses. He urged people to set aside their personal grudges and work jointly for the progress of the country and prove their affiliation with Islam.

“We have to follow the true Islamic teachings to be able to do away with the burgeoning crises,” Mr Khattak said.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Zakori reposed confidence in the leadership of Asfandyar Wali Khan and said that he was impressed by the policies of ANP.

He also met a delegation of Swat that was led by MPA Jaffar Shah. He said that ANP was the only political party in the country that materialised 85 per cent of the promises it had made with people. He said that other parties should follow suit.

The NP, he said, believed in serving people irrespective of their language, colour, race and beliefs owing to which it was able to carry out development programmes despite coping with terrorism. He said that some historic reforms made by the party in the province such as making mother tongue mandatory at primary level would enhance learning ability of students. —Bureau