SWABI: Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao said here on Sunday that Chief Ministers Pervez Khattak shifted the economic zone under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project to Nowshera from Swabi.

Addressing a public meeting at the playground of government high school, he said that the chief minister deprived residents of Swabi of the benefits of the economic zone. He said that people knew that PTI leaders failed to fulfil their promises.

He said that various leaders raised slogans for Pakhtun rights at different times but in fact none of them worked for the cause. That’s why Pakhtuns continued to suffer, he added.

Mr Sherpao said that there was need of unity, determination, devotion, sacrifices and full concentration to fight against all the odds and achieve the desired objectives.

Mr Sherpao who was interior minister during Pervez Musharraf’s regime, said that the war against terrorism, displacement of Pakhtuns, destruction of infrastructure, economic decline, unemployment and discrimination against them harmed their life standard and future of young generation.

QWP chief says PTI leaders failed to fulfil promises

He said that he would eradicate the longstanding deprivation of Pakhtuns by taking practical steps and ensuring their true progress and imparting of quality education to their children if his party came into power.

The QWP leader warned that the federal government that more delay in merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would not be tolerated. He said that people of tribal areas could no longer remain in the shadows of deprivation.

“Anything less than merger of tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would not be acceptable to our party. We have already made it clear and want once again to send a clear message to the rulers,” he said.

Mr Sherpao said that the line drawn several decades ago by colonial power between the people of the settled areas and Fata should be eliminated before the upcoming general elections. He said that it was the demand, desire and policy of QWP to see merger of Fata with the province before the elections.

He urged the parliamentarians from Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to come forward and play their due role in the merger of those areas. “The Pakhtun leaders should shun their differences and struggle for merger of Fata with the province,” he added.

Mr Sherpao said that Pakhtuns were the second largest population of the country and rendered numerous sacrifices in the war against terrorism but government neither compensated nor rehabilitated them. “We worked with complete determination and will work for Pakhtun rights in future as well,” he said.

QWP provincial chief Sikandar Sherpao, district chiarman Masood Jabar and various other leaders also spoke on the occasion.

However, QWP MPA Abdul Karim did not attend the gathering despite the fact leaders of the party had held a meeting with him and he assured them to attend the meeting.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2018