Begum Nasim claims her party will follow the true spirit of Bacha Khan

Says countrywide campaign to draw disgruntled workers to be launched soon

PESHAWAR: The widow of Awami National Party (ANP) leader Abdul Wali Khan and stepmother of the party’s de-facto chief Asfandyar Wali Khan, Begum Nasim, said she will launch a countrywide campaign to draw disgruntled party workers. Nasim claimed she will soon announce a manifesto, flag and constitution for her new party.

Addressing the crowds gathered to observe the eight death anniversary of Khan Abdul Wali Khan and 26^th of Khan Abdul Ghaffar (Bacha) Khan on Monday at Nishtar Hall, Nasim, also known as Mor Bibi, appealed to the people to join the her recently-launched Bacha Khan Awami Party, especially those who left ANP due to internal differences.

“The party workers will see real followers of Bacha Khan’s philosophy of non-violence,” said Nasim.

She paid tribute to Wali and Bacha Khan for their struggle and said both leaders stood for restoration of peace and rights of Pukhtuns. “I waited for seven years and hoped the ANP would deliver but they failed, compelling me to form a new party to promote Bacha Khan’s mission,” she said.

She said Asfandyar should apologise to disgruntled workers and families of victims of bomb attacks owing to his party’s bad governance and failure to stem terrorism. Nasim vowed to reorganise the party along modern lines, adding that although she was old, she had the passion of a youngster.

“There will be no place for corrupt people in my party,” she said, adding she will soon start a drive across the province for nominating four members in each district in consultation with district workers, and then announce the party leadership.

Nasim led the ANP, then known as the National Awami Party, in the mid-70s when Wali Khan was imprisoned by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

She was also an active partner of the Pakistan National Alliance and was said to be among those, like Asghar Khan, who supported Ziaul Haq’s regime. Some even claimed Bacha Khan disliked her and that her presence was owed to her husband’s influence.

Apart from being the only woman to win a general seat in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in 1977, she was also elected MPA in 1988, 1990 and 1993.

Once considered to be the most powerful woman in ANP, Nasim served as the party’s provincial president for a long time before she was asked to leave in 2007.