Chief of his own faction of the Pashtoonkhwah Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Khushal Khan Kakar on Wednesday vowed to defend the Pashtoon identity and resources through political and democratic struggle.
Kakar was addressing his first public gathering in Quetta after announcing a separate faction of the party. Other leaders of the PkMAP also addressed the public gathering.
The PkMAP formally divided into two factions on Tuesday after its sacked dissidents formed a new faction at a congress held in Quetta and elected its leaders.
Kakar, the son of former senator and PkMAP’s provincial president Usman Kakar, was elected as chairman of the new faction and Mukhtar Khan Yousafzai was elected as co-chairman.
The faction leaders, who were expelled from PkMAP last month by its chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai for allegedly violating the party’s constitution and opposing his policies, held their congress at Quetta’s Ayub Stadium just a week after PkMAP held its seventh congress and re-elected Achakzai as its chairman and Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal as secretary general.
In his address, Kakar said Pakistan was facing a host of issues and the democratic struggle was the only answer to all the ills being faced by the country. “We are striving for an inclusive Pakistan.”
He said a new national action plan against terrorism should be prepared in consultation with all political parties.
He said the masses were skeptical about the institutions, including the media, which was not what he claimed working independently.
The PkMAP leader said the people of Swat and other Pashtoon-dominated areas of the country have suffered the worst during the war against terrorism.
He urged all political parties to join their hands in rejecting terrorism in all shapes. Kakar stated that the rulers should revisit their policies with regard to Pashtoons and other oppressed nationalities in the country.
He recalled the catastrophic incident of the army public school where innocent schoolchildren were brutally murdered.
The PkMAP chief said that no effective steps were taken against the menace of terrorism and extremism in the country.
He said the PkMAP would make no compromise over the rights of all nationalities, including Pashtoon. He said the ongoing democratic struggle against injustice in Pashtoon would be continued throughout the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 29th, 2022.
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