The long road: Politicians warn of disharmony over CPEC

Some say corridor should not be politicised, others demand it run through their areas

CHARSADDA/BATKHELA/HARIPUR: Thoughts, opinions and appeals on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor were the order of the day in various parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

In Charsadda, PTI leader Nisar Muhammad Khan, a former federal minister, said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has ignored the concerns of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan on CPEC. He believed this would lead to disharmony among provinces. He expressed these views while speaking to The Express Tribune in Charsadda on Friday.

While criticising the policies of the prime minister, Nisar said Nawaz was following in Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s footsteps and dividing the country into two for Punjab. He said the prime minister’s actions were bringing down the spirits of political leadership of the small provinces.



He said during his previous tenure, Nawaz constructed the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway and abandoned the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway which was later completed by Pervez Musharraf. The former federal minister pointed out the prime minister initiated several development projects in Punjab, including motorways, the Orange Train and the Metro Bus service, but had no such projects for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh.

CPEC should not be politicised

In Batkhela, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl central leader Attaur Rehman said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) should not be turned into a political issue like Kala Bagh Dam. He expressed these views while speaking to journalists at a condolence reference for the wife of former federal minister Lal Muhammad Khan.

Rehman said CPEC was planned 15 years ago by Maulana Fazlur Rehman with routes through Shangla, Besham and Swat. But later, the routes were changed to Hassan Abdal. He said the Centre has turned the issue into a political one just like the Kala Bagh Dam.

Everyone on CPEC

Residents of Haripur and Darband asked elected representatives of Hazara to play their role and make Chappar Road between Haripur and Mansehra a part of CPEC. Speaking to the media, Qazi Nisar Khan, a social activist from Khalabat Township, said the federal government had purchased thousands of acres of land between Haripur and Thakot in the 1980s to lay down the land route between Pakistan and China via Darband.

He claimed the width of Chappar Road was 110 feet and it was an alternative route to access the China border. He said the government initially carpeted just 15 feet of this width, leaving the rest of land on the sides for future use. Khan claimed since a route had existed for over two decades, elected representatives from Haripur, Mansehra and Torghar must play their role in taking up the matter on the floor of the provincial and national assemblies.

Sufi Shah Nawaz Tanoli said the MNA from NA-21, Mansehr-II Captain (retd) Safdar promised the people of Darband he would get the CPEC to pass through their area.

He reminded the MNA of his promise and added it was a prime opportunity for locals who sacrificed precious land for Tarbela Dam and Chappar Road projects.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2016.