Demanding rights: ‘Pukhtuns to be united under one province’

Pk-MAP leaders address public gathering, campaign for NA-30, PK-85.

MADYAN: Leaders of Pakhtunkhwa Mili Awami Party (Pk-MAP) on Wednesday asserted pukhtuns should have rights overall resources present in the Pukhtun belt.

They were addressing a political gathering in Madyan as part of their election campaign for NA-30 Swat-II and PK-85 Swat-VI.

In his address, Mukhtiar Yousafzai, a candidate for NA-30, claimed every institution in the government is heading in the wrong direction, thanks to the erroneous policies of previous governments.

“Pukhtuns are treated with less partiality and their resources have been captured by the federation. Pukhtuns have no authority over their own resources. We want all Pukhtuns, whether they are from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa or Balochistan, to be united under one province where they should have sole authority over their natural resources as enjoyed by Punjab and Sindh,” said Yousufzai.

Describing his party manifesto for the 2013 elections, Yousafzai said Pk-MAP will not only stall the ever-escalating rate of inflation, but also reduce it. Pukhtuns must have equal share in military and civil services, he added.

Yousafzai suggested installing new power houses to tackle the issue of load shedding. His manifesto also touched upon creating employment opportunities in the province so all the Pukhtuns working abroad would be motivated to come back and work in their own country with honour.

The political gathering was also addressed by PK-85 candidate Akhtar Ali and Pk-MAP leader Nawab Khan.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2013.