PESHAWAR: Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan has asked the government to convene all-party conference before making a decision about sending army to Yemen.

The people of Balochistan would bear its brunt if the government decided to send army to Yemen, he told journalists after chairing a meeting of the working committee of ANP at the residence of MNA Ghulam Ahmed Bilour here on Tuesday.

Mr Khan said that Pakhtuns were suffering owing to the government’s decision to get involved in someone else’s war in Afghanistan. The government was repeating the same mistake by sending troops to Yemen, he said, adding it would cause disaster.

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“Pakistan is the only unfortunate country whose rulers do not learn from the past mistakes but continue to repeat the blunders. The war between Saudi Arabia and Iran will cause trouble to the people of Balochistan,” Mr Khan said.

He said that ANP would staunchly oppose sending army to Yemen to fight at the behest of Saudi Arabia. The government should convene all-party conference to discuss the matter and take a consensus decision, he added.

Flanked by the central and provincial leaders of the party, the ANP chief said that Pakhtuns rendered great sacrifices and suffered huge losses owing to the wrong steps taken by the government. ANP would never allow the government to scapegoat them anymore, he said.

“We will actively participate in the local bodies’ elections and will win the same with landslide victory,” Mr Khan said. He added that formation of tripartite alliance was need of the hour to defend rights of the people.

The ANP chief also demanded of the government to announce local government polls in Federally Administered Tribal Areas to empower the local people. He also showed concern over the government’s plan to announce the results of village council elections after 10 days. It was unjust to delay the results of the polls, he added.

Mr Khan also criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led provincial government for authorising the chief minister to terminate the district council nazim and termed its slogan of change a joke with the people of the province. “Our party doesn’t have any militant wing and anyone indulging in terrorism can’t be a worker of ANP,” he said.

The ANP chief said that the video statement of the jailed worker of MQM, Saulat Mirza, didn’t have any legal standing, however, his allegations were very serious and needed to be probed thoroughly. He also expressed satisfaction over the improvement in relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, saying it would lead to establishment of much-needed peace in the region. Both the countries should further improve their ties for the betterment of their people, he said.

However, Mr Khan said that there was no policy of the federal government in that regard. He also criticised PTI chairman Imran for the video tape in which he had allegedly spoken to Dr Arif Alvi about the attack on PTV. The real motive behind the sit-in was revealed, he added.

The ANP chief said that PTI failed to bring change according to its promise. ANP had carried out record development work in the province during its rule, he claimed. “We will continue to defend the rights of Pakhtuns,” Mr Khan said.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2015

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