PESHAWAR: The Awami National Party has issued show cause notices to its two senior leaders over the alleged involvement in activities against its interest, policy and discipline.

The notices issued to ANP senior vice-president and former parliamentarian Bushra Gohar and former senator and former provincial president Afrasiab Khattak were signed by ANP general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain.

“On the directives of (ANP) central president Asfandyar Wali Khan, you have been issued show cause notice because your activities are against party interest, policy and discipline. It has caused irreparable loss to the party’s cause and it has been confusing the party workers causing doubts in them which amounts to causing damage to the party’s interest,” said the show cause notice issued to Ms Bushra.

The notice was also shared by the party on its official twitter handle.

Ms Bushra was asked to submit her written reply within seven days or face action.

Party tells two to respond in a week or face action

When contacted to know about the nature of her activities, which might have made the leadership take the disciplinary step, she just replied that she had “requested for details of the alleged anti-party activities. I don’t know much beyond what is written in the show cause notice.”

ANP general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain said he had issued the notices to the two leaders on the directives of the party’s central president.

He said the activities of Bushra and Afrasiab were not in the interest of the party and that they knew about the nature of activities they had been engaging in on social media for the last two months or so.

Mr Mian Iftikhar said the two leaders had been asked to give written explanation on the matter within seven days or face disciplinary action.

Surprisingly, both Ms Gohar, a vocal politician and rights activist, and former senator Afrasiab Khattak are aware of the alleged anti-party activities, which caused the wrath of the party’s leadership.

Mr Khattak said he learned about the show cause notice through social media.

“I really have not received anything verbally or in writing so far and only came to know about it (notice) through social media,” he said when asked what could have caused the party leadership to take disciplinary action against him.

Whether it is against the party’s policy or not, both ANP leaders, who have been very vocal for rights of the Pashtun, actively support the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement on social media by re-tweeting and liking its tweets, whereas the nationalist party they’re associated with has tried to keep a distance from the social rights movement.

Earlier, the ANP’s youth organisation, National Youth Organisation leader Mohsin Dawar, who had won the National Assembly election in the July 25 election as an independent candidate, was also removed from the party on the basis of some organisational grounds.

He said he knew that ‘it’s coming since he joined the rights’ movement’.

Ms Gohar, one of the vocal members of the last National Assembly, was sidelined long before the current show cause notice was issued.

This year for the general election, her name was kept on Serial No 5, the second last on the priority list for the ANP’s reserved seats. A new entrant to the party was on the top of the list.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2018