Assigning blame: PTI should accept defeat, quit government, says Ghulam Bilour

ANP leader questions motive behind avenging Qadri’s execution in K-P

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party Senior Vice President Ghulam Ahmed Bilour has said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf should admit to its failure in countering militancy and quit the government.

He was speaking at a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Wednesday. ANP Central Secretary General Mian Iftikhar Hussain, ANP provincial general secretary Sardar Hussain Babak, among others, were in attendance.

Bilour held the provincial government responsible for the attack on a court complex in Shabqadar, Charsadda on Monday. “As a result of military operations, terrorists have been flushed out of the tribal belt,” he said. “However, the PTI-led Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has failed to combat terror attacks in the province.”

Questioning motive

The ANP leader said it was ironic that the militants orchestrated an attack in Shabqadar to avenge the execution of Mumtaz Qadri, the convicted assassin of Punjab governor Salman Taseer.

“Neither Taseer nor Qadri were Pukhtuns,” he said. “Even those who handed down the sentence were not Pukhtuns. And yet, militants exacted their revenge from Pukhtuns.”

As per Bilour, ongoing terrorism is a “part of conspiracies hatched against Pukhtuns since the Afghan war”. He added Pukhtuns do not have a hand in extremism and terrorism. “[On the contrary] Pukhtuns are suffering due to the scourge of violence imposed on the region,” Bilour said.

Basis of comparison

Responding to a question, he justified his demand for PTI to quit the government by highlighting efforts made to eliminate militancy during ANP’s tenure.

“ANP continued its war against militancy and rendered tremendous sacrifices,” he said. “Back then, militant networks and compounds were spread across the tribal belt. However, under the present government, militant hideouts have been destroyed through military operations.”

According to Bilour, terror and violence prevails because of the failure to implement National Action Plan (NAP).

“NAP was adopted through consensus from all political parties and stakeholders,” he said. “If it is properly implemented, it could eliminate militancy.”

Bilour also flayed the federal government for “its negative role” at a time when violence has become the order of the day in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

At the conference, a large number of ANP workers wore black bands on their arms to denounce the attack.

Bilour prayed for victims of the attack and criticised the government for its “negligence and failure” to combat militancy and unrest.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2016.