Air strikes: PTI chief warns of secession plot in North Waziristan

Imran appeals to army chief to call off operation in the region.

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Tuesday that he could smell a conspiracy to separate North Waziristan Agency from Pakistan. “Foreign elements are also involved in this [conspiracy] because the region has huge natural gas and iron ore reserves,” Imran told a news conference at his residence in Bani Gala, on the edge of the federal capital.

The PTI chief expressed serious concerns over the collateral damage in the recent air blitz against suspected hideouts of militants in North Waziristan, and appealed to the army chief to call off the operation.

“A number of innocent children, women and non-combatants have been killed in the air raids,” he said, adding that he feared a new wave of terrorism might ensue which would affect Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the province where the PTI is in power.

“I want to convey this message to the army chief and appeal to the army to save the country from disintegration and save the army from being hated,” he said. Such military operations had led to the separation of the country’s eastern wing in 1971. “The situation in North Waziristan and Balochistan is similar today,” he added. “Look Gen Raheel, bomb has no eyes and it targets everyone,” he said.

Imran also criticised Nawaz Sharif for ‘not playing his leadership role’. “The prime minister has no time to resolve internal issues as he spends most of his time on foreign trips,” he added. “We want to ask what happened to the dialogue process.”



The PTI chief said many people from North Waziristan were migrating to Afghanistan, a situation which, he said, would prolong the conflict. “Weapons cannot restore peace,” he added.

Khattak speaks of deprivation

Speaking at the same news conference, K-P Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak said 70% industry in his province had closed down due to militancy.

K-P produces gas, hydel power and oil but the province is being denied its rightful share in funds by the federal government, which is ignoring all smaller provinces. “The federal government has yet to pay K-P Rs6 billion under net hydel profits,” he added.

In addition, he said, the decision regarding uncapping of net hydel profits – which was finalised by the technical committee of the federal government in March 2013 – was yet to be implemented. “These arrears – in excess of Rs138 billion – are owed to the K-P government.”

He said K-P was facing an annual loss of Rs15 billion as the federal government was not willing to give it excise duty on crude oil. “Provision of windfall levy of which 50% was to go to K-P has not been levied. This has caused a loss of more than Rs25 billion per annum to the province,” he said.

He said due to nonpayment of royalty on LPG as decreed by the Peshawar High Court was resulting in losses of hundreds of millions of rupees annually. “The right to foreign loans/grants from donors also has remained inoperative because the federal government has not put into place the requisite framework prescribed by the NEC nor have the provinces been given their borrowing limits.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2014.