NEW YORK - While activists from the Hazara Movement are demonstrating to press their demand for a separate province, ANP leader Asfandyar Wali Khan said Sunday that President Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif made political sacrifices in agreeing to rename NWFP as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. I will ever remain grateful to them (President Zardari and Nawaz Sharif), he said in a speech at the Bacha Khan Peace Conference held here to honour his grandfather Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. The ANP leader said that President Zardari had shown his commitment to renaming of NWFP when he mentioned Pakhtunkhwa in his address to the United Nations General Assembly last year. Asfandyar paid tributes to President Zardari and Nawaz sharif for overcoming their party differences and reaching an agreement on the 18th amendment, which, he said, also guarantees more provincial autonomy than ever before. The move meets the aspirations of the people of Pakistan and would make the country strong, he said. The largely-attended conference, at which tributes were paid to Bacha Khan for his prolonged struggle for Pakhtun rights, was held in a restaurant in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. Among those who addressed the gathering were Iqbal Ali, President of ANP, USA, Siddiq Ali, General Secretary and Abdullah Abid, Information Secretary. A number of women and children, mostly clad in red dresses, were also present. An Urdu-Pushto Mushaira and a music programme wrapped the day-long programme. Outside the conference venue, Pakistanis belonging to Hazara Division staged a demonstration demanding a separate province. They shouted slogans such as Pakistan Zindabad and Pakhtunkhwa Na Manzoor. Police kept a watch on the rally, but no untoward incident took place as nearly 40 demonstrators left the venue peacefully. Two of the activists Iqbal Jadoon and Rashid Abbasi called for maintaining the separate identity of people of Hazara, who, they said, had rendered great services in the establishment of Pakistan. At the Bacha Khan Peace Conference, Asfandyar Wali Khan also said that efforts of the Pakistani political forces and the armys acts have defeated insurgency, but acts of terrorism still remain. The ANP leader said his party was determined to help in the ongoing efforts to wipe out terrorism. He urged the US press not to dub Pakistanis as terrorists. Asfandyar said that a peaceful Afghanistan was a must for Pakistans own stability and prosperity. If the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan was sought, Pakistan would also have to eject foreign militants like the Arabs, Uzbeks and Tajiks from FATA for establishing peace in the region. The conference adopted a series of resolutions demanding that the Pakistan government declare Bacha Khan Day to mark the Pakhtun leaders birthday and his anti-colonial struggle coupled with the issuance of a postal stamp, and that school textbooks include a chapter on his role.