PESHAWAR - Awami National Party President Asfandyar Wali Khan on Saturday welcomed the ongoing peace talks between Taliban and US leadership in Qatar and hoped that this dialogue would usher in a new era of peace and prosperity in the war-torn region.
“We are waiting for the moment when our children will go to school without any fear of subversive activities and we are hopeful that this will happen if sincere efforts were made for peace” he remarked while addressing the 13th death anniversary of Khan Abdul Wali Khan at Bacha Khan Markaz, Peshawar.
Afghan Council General Hashim Niazi, ANP Senior Vice President Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, ANP central General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain, ANP KP President Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, General Secretary Sardar Hussain Babak and others were present on the occasion.
The ANP leader said that Afghan government should be part of the dialogue between the Taliban and without Afghan government’s inclusion; the peace so brought would not be durable, he said. He said that it is good omen that during the last one week, some good news was coming regarding prospect of successful peace dialogue.
He criticised Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government for poor economic policies and taking huge loans from the friendly countries and said that despite huge burden of loans, there was no sign of relief for the common people.
He said that when Imran Khan was in opposition, he always cursed then governments for IMF loans, but today he has forgotten all his claims and promises made with the people of the country. He added that the day was not far when the poverty-hit masses would attack PTI offices all over the country.
Commenting on Sahiwal incident, Asfandyar Wali Khan expressed heartfelt sympathies with the victim family and said that this incident would have not happened had the killers of Naqeebullah Mehsud were timely punished. He also expressed his reservation over the process of investigation and said that the government was not handling the case fairly to reward justice to the family.
He stressed immediate transfer of administrative powers to FATA to address reservation of the people of merged areas. He said that people of tribal districts were worried about their future, adding that there was dire need to have swift transfer of administrative system in merged districts to improve peace and stability in that part of the country.
He said that also stressed for peace and stability in merged districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and linked its peace with peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He demanded of the PTI government to ensure basic facilities of life in tribal district and remove the sense of deprivation of the people in the area.