Condolences pouring in: ANP condemns Mian Mushtaq’s assassination
Mian Mushtaq was a former high-ranking member of ANP. PHOTO: EXPRESS NEWS screengrab.
Acting President of Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Haji Adeel, in a statement issued from Bacha Khan Markaz, condemned the attack on Mian Mushtaq and claimed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is nurturing militancy rather than curbing it.
Senior ANP leader Mian Mushtaq was killed on Sunday, along with his driver and a friend. Mushtaq’s vehicle was attacked while he was driving to Hayatabad from his village, Masho Khel, and he succumbed on the way to the hospital.
Adeel blamed the provincial government for plunging Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) into turmoil. The statement further lashed out at the government, asking how many more bodies of ANP activists and leaders would have to be buried due to their failed policies.
The acting provincial president of ANP, Bashir Matta announced a three-day mourning period in which all political activities will be halted. He said the provincial government is acting like an ally of the Taliban and they have left the entire province in their hands. Matta directed ANP activists across K-P to hoist black flags as a sign of mourning.
“The way they shot Mushtaq and his companions reveals it was a clear incident of target killing,” said ANP senior leader and former K-P minister for information Mian Iftikhar Hussain while talking to The Express Tribune. He said it is not the first time that ANP activists and leaders have been targeted, saying that more than 850 of their workers had been gunned down by militants.
“They are scared of our strong stance against terrorism,” Iftikhar said, “It is not a battle between the ANP and militants, but between good and evil.”
He said Mushtaq was one of their most courageous and unafraid leaders and had offered his life for the mission of serving his people. “Militancy will not sustain long, and heroes like Mushtaq will triumph.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2014.