PESHAWAR, Dec 1: The Awami National Party has reiterated that it will never allow the government to construct the Kalabagh dam at the cost of the Pakhtuns.

Speaking at a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Friday, the party’s general secretary for the NWFP Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the provincial assemblies through unanimous resolutions had rejected the dam saying that it would destroy prime land in Sindh and the NWFP, but the rulers had no respect for elected forums.

He said the interest of Punjab could not be termed the interest of the country. He said only Punjabi rulers were in favour of the dam, but it was a matter of life and death for the Sindhi and Pakhtun people.

He observed that the present rulers had always exploited

non-issues and tried to divide people struggling for their basic rights.

He said on one hand the government had blocked the entry of an ANP procession into Bajaur while on the other hand it had helped the fanatics to promote extremism in the tribal areas. It had exposed the so-called enlightened and liberal policies of the rulers, he said.

He said the government was not serious in restoring peace in the tribal belt, while Afghan President Hamid Karzai had invited Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan and PMAP leader Mehmood Khan Achekzai to play their role in his peace efforts on both sides of the border.

Two women councillors joined the ANP on the occasion. Mr Hussain said the ANP women wing would soon hold its convention.