‘Stakeholders must forge joint strategy’

Asfandyar Wali Khan says all parties have to evolve a joint strategy to normalise Karachi violence.

QUETTA: All political forces in Karachi, including the Awami National Party (ANP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan Peoples Party, will have to sit together to evolve a joint strategy to normalise the situation in the Sindh metropolis, ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan said on Saturday.

Speaking at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat here on Saturday, the ANP chief said that he would not allow Karachi to be divided along ethnic lines. “Karachi does not belong to any single ethnic group. It is a city for all, hence we will have to get together and resolve issues.”

He said that no one knew for certain who was really behind the targeted killings in Karachi, because if a Pashtun fell victim, allegations were levelled against the MQM. If an Urdu-speaking person is killed, he said, the ANP is blamed.

“I believe that if two rival countries can sit together for negotiations, there is no reason why the ANP and MQM cannot. But the environment should be conducive,” he told the media.

Responding to questions about the presence of foreign troops in the country, Asfandyar said that being a nationalist he would not allow any foreign troops.

He said that there is no need for drone strikes in Balochistan because there is no hostile activity in the area which may indicate the presence of the Taliban or other terrorists.

Commenting on the issue of RGST, the ANP leader said that his party had conditionally supported the bill in the Senate and would do so only if its demands were met. “We have asked that a one-time flood relief tax on food items and educational sectors be imposed.”

He said that terrorists are relocating after the stabilisation of areas hit by lawlessness and are looking for safe havens in other parts of the country.

Earlier, the ANP chief who was flanked by Chief Minister Khyber-Pakthunkhwa, Ameer Haider Hoti, Balochistan’s Ministers Zamrak Khan Achakzai and Sadiq Umrani visited the house of the late ANP leader Sardar Jillani Khan in Chaman town. He condemned the killing of Jilani Khan and said people working for the unity of the Pakhtun nation were deliberately being eliminated.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2010.