Development in Pakhtun areas : ANP gives govt 30 days to initiate projects

‘The party may leave the coalition if deadline lapses without progress’.

KARACHI:

The Awami National Party (ANP), Sindh chapter, has given the government a month’s deadline to start the development projects in Pakhtun-dominated areas. If the deadline is not met, ANP will be forced to consider the option of leaving the coalition, warned Sindh chief Shahi Syed, addressing the media after a meeting at the Bacha Khan Markaz on Sunday.

“We supported the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the province unconditionally for three years and never tried to blackmail them for personal gains,” said Syed, adding, “This time, the government has not provided ANP with a single development scheme and this has disgruntled party workers.” For this reason, it has become difficult to convince ANP members to favour the PPP. The development projects include peripheral roads of the Bacha Khan Flyover and the Link Road flyover, hospitals and schools in Paktun areas of the city.

A few days ago, ANP members complained about their issues and the increasing media coverage enticed a PPP delegation to visit the Mardan House, he claimed.

The delegation assured the ANP that their reservations will be addressed but the PPP did not contact them after that.

The working committee will organise protests at the Karachi Press Club every Friday until their deadline to remind the government about their concerns, said Syed.

Census 2011

The party chief said ANP district workers and office bearers will “keep a check” on teams conducting the population and housing census but will continue to cooperate nonetheless. “We are receiving complaints about the team’s unfair attitude and that they are favouring people from a particular party to make changes in the records.” Syed urged respondents to use a pen so that their data could not be tampered with.

“Due to the current law and order situation, we demand that the government conduct the census under the army’s supervision in the city’s no-go areas,” said Syed. He defined the no-go-areas as areas where “you and I recite the Kalima before entering”.

He said peace can be maintained only if the army conducts raids across the city and presents all the culprits, involved in target killings, extortion and drug dealing, in army courts.

Decisions at the meeting

Syed demanded that the government expose the political affiliations of the target killers responsible for murders of former ANP chief security officer Obaidullah Yousafzai, advocate Muhammad Hanif and the men who attacked Bashir Jan. “They should be exposed in the same way the home minister revealed the political affiliation of Ajmal Pahari and the murderers of Wali Khan Babar.”

The working committee also decided to start new membership drives throughout Sindh from April 15 till August 15.

The Committee has also changed the party’s manifesto and an election commission will also be constituted to monitor the election process.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th,  2011.