CHARSADDA/PESHAWAR: ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan on Tuesday said the decision to change Islamabad sit-in into thanksgiving rally was the right move on part of PTI chairman Imran Khan.

“Better late than never,” he told a public meeting in Sur Dherai area of Charsadda, where Mushtaq Khan of the Qaumi Watan Party joined the ANP with his colleagues.

The ANP chief said one party (PTI) was making an emotional move to lock Islamabad down, while the other (ruling PML-N) was trying to block roads.

“We would have been on the PTI’s side had it protested for the rights of the province on the issues like CPEC instead of its hunger for power,” he said.

Asfandyar said it was sad that two political parties, the PML-N and PTI, were shutting cities for own interest and that they were trying to make it a case for fight between Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

FACE-SAVING: ANP general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain declared PTI chairman Imran Khan’s decision to change the Nov 2 Islamabad lockdown into a thanksgiving rally a ‘timely face-saving move’.

“The Supreme Court saved both the federal government and the opposition from embarrassment as its decision came at a time when neither the government nor PTI chairman could back out. They should thank the court for coming up with a decision to make terms of references regarding Panama Leaks scandal,” he told Dawn in Peshawar.

Mian Iftikhar said Imran Khan was lucky that he found a face-saving opportunity in the SC’s decision about the inquiry commission on the Panama Papers case.

He said the PML-N government could not lock Islamabad down after the SC’s decision earlier and that Imran Khan was left with no option but to stop workers from locking down Islamabad so he did the right thing to convert his call for sit-in on Nov 2 into a thanksgiving rally.

“Imran Khan got a chance to save his face and he availed it instead of showing stubbornness,” he said.

Mian Iftikhar said Imran Khan believed in politics of resistance mostly at wrong times and on wrong issues.

He said the same was true of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, who could face teargas for his position but not on issues like denial of rights to the province in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

“The Pakhtuns have become a laughing stock as it was only the people of KP, who were heading to Islamabad. There were no such crowds from other provinces,” he said.

The ANP leader said it was wrong move of CM Khattak to use language creating hatred between the two provinces and that too for his own interests.

“He (CM) was trying to create conflict between Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It was CM’s own fight for his seat. It is also true of his chairman (Imran Khan), who seemed not to care for anything but only his own premiership,” he said.

Mian Iftikhar said the PTI never cared for rights of the people of the province, who voted it into power as was visible from its protests and sit-ins, which were never held for the rights of the people of the province.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2016