PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) president Senator Aimal Wali Khan on Tuesday said that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was playing a ‘double game’ on the Tirah situation.
He claimed that the provincial government had given permission for military operation and at the same time it had failed to provide relief to the displaced and affected people of Tirah valley in Khyber district.
Talking to reporters at Bacha Khan Markaz here, the ANP leader said that the Tirah situation was serious, asking both the federal and provincial governments to provide relief to the affected people of remote Tirah valley.
The ANP has inaugurated “Bacha Khan Week” in connection with the joint death anniversary of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, known as Bacha Khan, and his son Khan Abdul Wali Khan.A number of literary, cultural and political activities would be held across the country during the week.
Bacha Khan died on January 20, 1988 while Wali Khan died on January 26, 2006 in Peshawar. The ANP would hold gatherings on January 23 in Charsadda and another in Karachi on January 25 to observe the joint death anniversary under the banner of ‘Babagan Kaleeza’.
Aimal Wali said that no military operation or action had been taken against the banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan or other religious extremists in the Punjab but Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had become a battlefield for decades.
“Displacement of the local population in the extreme cold weather was not a solution and this will affect business, routine life of the people in Khyber district,” he said.
He added that Chief Minister Sohail Afridi should step down if he could not stop the launch of the military operation in his native town.He said the provincial government must provide shelter, food and other facilities to the homeless people.
Senator Aimal Wali said that Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League and Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf were not sincere to Pakhtuns and Pakhtunkhwa and had always played with their sentiments, adding that only ANP would fight for the cause of Pakhtuns. The ANP leader called for restoring cordial relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan and reopening all trade routes on Pak-Afghan border. “The ANP is ready to play its role in reducing tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan as we have always advocated for cordial relations with the neighbouring countries including Afghanistan and India,” he added.
ANP senior vice president Dawood Khan Achakzai, general secretary Dr Mohammad Salim Khan, provincial president Mian Iftikhar Hussain, provincial general secretary Hussain Shah Yusufzai and others were present.
