ANP press release mixes up location of Bacha Khan’s tomb

The statement was issued to mark the death of the party's two leaders.

PESHAWAR:

A press release from the Awami National Party claimed that the party’s leaders offered prayers and paid tribute to local legend Bacha Khan and Abdul Wali Khan at their tombs in Wali Bagh.

Luckily for them, prayers are acceptable regardless of geographical location, for Bacha Khan is actually buried in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

The statement was issued to mark the death of the two leaders after the party’s chairperson, Asfandyar Wali Khan, Provincial President Afrasiab Khattak and Chief Minister K-P Ameer Haider Hoti addressed a crowd after a public holiday was declared in the district of Peshawar to pay tribute to the Abdul Wali Khan and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the political activist and spiritual leader also known as Bacha Khan.

The press release states: “After a successful political gathering, the party leader Asfandyar Wali Khan along with the party leadership visited the tombs of Fakr-e-Afghan Bacha Khan and Rahbar-e-tehrik Khan Abdul Wali Khan at Wali Bagh (Charsadda), where he paid his homage to the two great leaders.”

It seems that someone at the headquarters of the ANP, Bacha Khan Markaz, did not realise that Bacha Khan is buried in another country. When contacted, Bacha Khan Markaz termed the press release a ‘human error’ and said it was impossible for the leadership to travel such a long distance in such short time. Nice of them to clear that one up.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2012.