ANP leaders remember Wali Khan

Urge govt to implement National Action Plan

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party leaders paid tribute to Pukhtun nationalist leader and former president of the party, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, on his 10th  death anniversary. Wali Khan died in Peshawar on January 26, 2006 after battling prolonged illness.

“Abdul Wali Khan struggled for peace, democracy and social justice throughout his life,” ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan said in a statement issued from Bacha Khan Markaz on Tuesday. “He acted on what he preached.”

Speaking at Eidgah in the city, Wali Khan’s wife Begum Nasim Wali Khan said he and Bacha Khan devoted their lives to peace and non-violence. However, she said both the nationalist leaders of the region wished to see progress was plagued with violence and insecurity.

She pressed the government to adopt a firm stand against militancy and constitute committees at the village level to monitor suspicious activities.

Struggle for peace

ANP leaders urged the government to implement the National Action Plan (NAP) in its true sense to eradicate militancy. The demand was put forward during a ceremony at Bacha Khan Markaz on Tuesday to commemorate Wali Khan’s death anniversary.

Speaking on the occasion, senior ANP leaders asked the government to implement NAP.

“Such attacks [like the one on Bacha Khan University] would never have taken place had NAP been properly implemented,” ANP leader Ghulam Ahmad Bilour said. “If the sayings of Wali Khan and Bacha Khan were upheld by leaders, the region would not have seen so much bloodshed.”

ANP General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Husain said, “Peace can’t be restored only through operations in North Waziristan, it must be extended against militants in Punjab.” He added locals want peace in the region.

“ANP was pushed to the wall for its struggle for peace and workers were killed,” ANP Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa President Amir Haider Khan Hoti said. He also urged the federal government to implement NAP.  “We have to spread peace, love and non-violence as per the teachings of the late Wali Khan and Bacha Khan,” said Haider Hoti.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2016.