CHARSADDA: Awami National Party president Aimal Wali Khan on Friday called for a ban on any political party that incites violence, including Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

Addressing a presser along with Governor Faisal Karim Kundi at the ANP central secretariat in Wali Bagh here, Aimal insisted that the PTI had adopted an undemocratic and nonpolitical conduct since its establishment and had always encouraged people to behave in a violent way.

He said that political parties and organisations that took the law into their own hands and incited violence, like PTI and Tehreek-i-Labbaik, should be dealt with strictly.

The ANP leader said that his party’s members in the Balochistan Assembly favoured a resolution seeking ban on the PTI.

Governor invites ANP leader to Dec 5 MPC on law and order

He said the PTI was a “waste that should be disposed of.”

Aimal said that the state had imposed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the last 12 years, but such moves won’t deliver the goods.

He said that the governor’s rule in the province offered no solution to the people’s problems.

“The governor won’t resolve key issues in a single day, so the governor’s rule is no solution,” he said, adding that authorities haven’t contacted his party’s leadership on the issue.

The ANP leader declared the “deteriorating law and order” situation in the province a major problem and complained about violent incidents in Kurram tribal district.

He said that the entire Pakhtun nation was saddened by the loss of lives in Kurram violence.

Aimal said that the ANP would support all advocates for lasting peace in the province.

“Terrorism is a serious issue in our province, so we all have to sit together to find its solution. Our province is burning in the fire of terrorism but certain elements are using it to serve their ends,” he said.

The ANP leader said that the party would continue advocating for people’s rights.

He said that the current unrest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was part of a conspiracy, which was meant to push the Pakhtun region into a new conflict.

“This issue has gone beyond the scope of the National Action Plan,” he said, urging the state institutions to “wake up” for corrective measures.

Aimal warned that the law and order situation would worsen in the days ahead and would be more precarious and frightening than the past.

He also advocated for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s right to its resources saying that right is clearly mentioned in the 18th Constitutional Amendment.

Earlier, Governor Kundi met with the ANP president and invited him to a multiparty conference to be held at the Governor’s House in Peshawar on Dec 5 to discuss the delicate law and order situation in the province, including tensions in the Kurram tribal district.

ANP provincial president Mian Iftikhar Hussain and general secretary Shah Hussain Yousafzai, Pakistan Peoples Party provincial president Mohammad Ali Shah Bacha, former president Najamuddin Khan and other leaders were also present on the occasion.

The governor told reporters that PTI founder Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi was the de facto chief minister of the province.

He insisted that all PTI leaders from the Punjab province had taken refuge in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Kundi said that Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, instead of “extinguishing fire in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa” was fueling unrest in Islamabad.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2024