RECORDER REPORT

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) provincial president Ameer Haidar Khan Hoti has demanded that Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata) should be made part of KP before the 2018 elections.

ANP leader also stressed that there was an urgent need to conduct consensus before the election, saying that if such steps were taken then KP would become the powerful assembly after Punjab province.

He was addressing the party workers in Tordher district Swabi on Thursday.

Hoti alleged Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaf-led provincial government has utterly failed to present Khyber Pakhtunkhwa case about gigantic and multi-purposes project, China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

ANP president said his party has run a full-fledge campaign in the province and fought the KP’s case with complete concentration and determination while making it clear to Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz (PML-N) government that changes in favour of Punjab province were not acceptable to them at any cost.

Mr. Hoti said that it was responsibility of the provincial government to present the provincial case with full vigour, making it clear that any change in the original agreed plan was not acceptable.

The ANP leadership demanded due share to smaller provinces in CPEC projects and worked for implementation of the original plan and recommendations of All Parties Conference in sprit and letter, he said.

CPEC is not only one project and there are several projects in it, he said, adding that energy, optic fiber, railway and industrial parks are all part of this project and ANP leaders want share in all these projects.

While commenting on ongoing tension on line of control (LoC), ANP president said that if a full-fledge war erupted between India and Pakistan Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leadership of his party would be responsible for all far-reaching consequences of the conflict.

Mr. Hoti said that the ANP leaders would not tolerate that the Indian forces continued killing of innocent people and children near working boundaries and Line of Control while indulging in an unabated firing. He said that two days back 10 civilian were deliberately targeted and killed in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Former chief minister said that our government has exercised restraint but this should not be considered Pakistan’s weakness and the Indian forces should give up continued ceasefire violations. “We are follower of non-violence of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and demand that India should sit across the table with Pakistan leaders to find out a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue,” he said.

He said that they might have differences with the leadership of ruling parties but when the question of the security of country comes then they would shun all differences, displaying complete unity while supporting Pakistan’s army.