Peshawar - Awami National Party has postponed its protest march, scheduled for November 11 in Islamabad, against the remarks of Interior Minister Brig (Retd) Ijaz Shah after a jirga of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf visited the ANP central secretariat Bacha Khan Markaz here Monday.
The PTI Jirga comprised federal ministers Pervez Khattak and Ijaz Shah. Ijaz Shah told media that he had apologised to the ANP leadership and also to all Pakhtuns for the remarks which might have created mistrust and wrongly interpreted in media.
To a query, he said that he had not meant how the media interpreted it. ANP provincial president Aimal Wali Khan said that keeping in view the Pakhtun traditions, they honoured the PTI Jirga as its members apologised for the controversial remarks.
He said the party had now cancelled its protest plan of November 11 in the federal capital.
He said the federal ministers’ Jirga had honoured the sacrifices of the ANP leaders and workers in fight against terror and acknowledged that ANP and Pakhtuns had rendered their lives for the sake of the country.
On the occasion, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak thanked the ANP leadership for honouring their Jirga. “We thank the ANP leadership for respecting our Jirga, and we expect good relations with the nationalist party that had rendered numerous sacrifices for peace and stability of the country,” he said.
Awami National Party central general secretary and spokesperson of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, Khushdil Khan Advocate and other ANP leaders were also present on the occasion.
Ijaz Shah said there was no restriction on political parties’ rallies but that the political parties should realise the sensitivity of security situation. Both the federal ministers avoided a clear answer on the questions about negotiations with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).