Begum Nasim said she would fight for the rights of Pukhtuns in Afghanistan after she does so in Pakistan. PHOTO: FILE
The widow of ANP leader Khan Abdul Wali Khan was speaking at a ceremony at the Shah Mansoor Judicial Complex in Swabi on Monday. She was accompanied by ANP-W General Secretary Farid Toofan and other office bearers of her party.
A trip down memory lane
Begum Nasim recalled she first entered politics when Wali Khan was jailed over his struggle for democracy by former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. She claimed she faced the same criticism then as she was facing now.
The incumbent leadership of ANP kicked her out of the party, she recalled; she had only formed her own party as she did not want to see the 100-year-struggle of Bacha and Wali Khan evaporate to nothing.
Criticising the present ANP leadership, the 78-year-old said the previous provincial government had reached new heights of corruption, which led to their massive defeat in last year’s general elections.
Mentioning the ongoing ethnic clashes in Karachi, Begum Nasim said there was peace in the metropolitan city when Wali Khan was leading Pukhtuns.
Brotherly ties
She said Pukhtuns on both sides of the border are the same and after she is done fighting for the rights of Pukhtuns in Pakistan, she would do the same for those in Afghanistan.
Toofan added both the government and the Taliban should come to the negotiating table, claiming the current committees formed by both sides will not be able to resolve the issue effectively.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2014.
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