PkMAP chief demands India-Pakistan talks

Chief of Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Mehmood Khan Achakzai termed improvement in Saudi-Iran relations a good omen for peace in the region and said that India and Pakistan should also follow suit.

Addressing a public rally in Pishin on Tuesday, the senior parliamentarian urged India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan to also follow the precedent set by the two arch rivals of the past.

Good relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia will have positive political, social, and economic impact on our region and largely on the Middle East as well as on the Muslim world, he elaborated.

It would also contain sectarian issues.

Achakzai urged Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan that without wasting time they should also initiate such a move immediately for normalizing their bilateral relationship.

Regarding the current political and economic crises in the country, Achakzai said that judges, generals, and politicians all should follow and obey the constitution.

“We would not allow anyone, whether judge, general or politician, to impose their dictatorship and we will resist judicial marshal law,” the PkMAP chairman warned.

Achakzai called upon the judges to administer justice as per the law and constitution, not on the basis of personal and political affiliations.

He maintained that no democratic person can oppose elections, but at the same time, Achakzai warned that without national consensus and normalizing the current polarized political atmosphere, holding elections can produce fatal results like the 1970s elections.

First, we should ensure that the constitution and parliament are supreme and make a mechanism to ensure that in the future no general or judge can dare interfere in politics.

To ensure the meaningful representation of small provinces and protect their rights and interests, Achakzai demanded equal status and power for the upper house.

The Senate should also have the power to introduce money bills like the National Assembly, he maintained.

In Balochistan, Pakhtuns and Baloch should have equal representation and rights on the basis of a fifty-fifty formula.

Regarding Afghanistan, Achakzai demanded that the international community immediately release the frozen assets of Afghanistan to mitigate the suffering of Afghans.

He called upon the Taliban to lift ban on girls’ education and respect human rights but also warned that no one has the right to destabilize Afghanistan or threaten its integrity on the pretext of women or human rights violations.

Besides, he also demanded that Pakistani authorities should open the crossing points with Afghansitan including Chaman, Badinai, Qamardin, Kadanai, Ghazni, Khost, Torkham and Nawa Pass on the Durand Line and establish customs houses to facilitate border trade.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2023.