PESHAWAR: Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan has said that failure of institutions to penalise Sindh police officer Rao Anwar in fake encounters led to the killing of three persons in front of their minors in Sahiwal, Punjab.

“Had Rao Anwar punished according to the law, the incident like Sahiwal would have been avoided,” said the ANP leader while addressing a function held at the party central secretariat on Sunday in connection with the death anniversaries of Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan and Khan Abdul Wali Khan.

Afghanistan Cultural Attaché Hazrat Wali Hotak and senior leaders of the party attended the ceremony. ANP is observing a week to pay tributes to Bacha Khan and his son Abdul Wali Khan.

Asfandyar says incidents like Sahiwal would have been avoided if SSP Rao Anwar was punished

Personal belongings including clothes, shoes and other items used by Bacha Khan, the Pakhtun leader who led a non-violent movement of Khudai Khidmatgar against the British colonialism, were also put on display.

Asfandyar Wali said that despite merger of the erstwhile Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, uncertainty prevailed in the newly merged districts and people were still suspicious about their future. He said that people in Waziristan tribal district were still insecure. He said that an innocent man and his son were taken away at gunpoint in Waziristan district.

Mr Khan said that delegating administrative powers to governor was tantamount to protecting the colonial era obsolete system. He said that instead of constructing five million houses, Prime Minister Imran Khan should focus on rehabilitation of militancy-affected people in the tribal districts.

He said that thousands of residential quarters and infrastructure had been flattened during military operations in tribal districts. He asked the federal and provincial governments to ensure return of displaced families to their homes in former Fata in a dignified manner.

The ANP chief said that desired results could not be achieved without giving status of first class citizen to people of the merged districts. He criticised Election Commission of Pakistan for declaring six frontier regions — from Peshawar to Dera Ismail Khan — a single constituency of the provincial assembly.

Expressing concerns over internal situation, Mr Khan said that the country was at crossroads owing to wrong policies of the government. He said that repercussions of the government policies would be very dangerous for the federation. He warned the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf to learn lesson from history.

“Sitting rulers should learn lesson from former Soviet Union,” said the ANP chief. He said that his party would not allow the government to amend a single article of the 18th Amendment. He said that ANP workers would take to streets if 18th Amendment was rolled back. He said that opponents of the provincial autonomy and 18th Amendment in fact wanted presidential form of government.

Mr Khan warned federal government against destabilising PPP government in Sindh, saying the ruling parties should respect mandate of voters. He said that PTI government in the centre would be in trouble if it did not respect mandate of people in Sindh.

About situation in Afghanistan, the ANP chief said that Afghan government should lead peace talks with Taliban. He said that without engaging Afghan government, talks would remain inconclusive. He said that it was strange that Pakistan, the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar would participate in expected peace talks in Islamabad without inviting Afghan government.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2019