All parties conference: ANP undeterred by lukewarm response

The Express Tribune

Although two major political parties have refused to attend the Awami National Party’s (ANP) all-parties conference (APC), the ANP stands undeterred to form a joint counterterrorism policy. Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan on Monday said his party will continue to extend invitations to major political parties in the country to help create a joint strategy to tackle terrorism. “We will keep asking political parties to come forward and formulate a joint anti-terrorism strategy, till they agree. We have to end militancy on Pushtun soil,” Khan said. Khan’s announcement came a day after the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl and Jamaat-e-Islami refused to participate in the ANP’s proposed APC, which aims to formulate a unilateral anti-terrorism policy. He was speaking on the 25th death anniversary of Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan (popularly known as Bacha Khan) and the seventh death anniversary of Khan Abdul Wali Khan, which was commemorated at Nishtar Hall on Monday. “It is the traditional Pushtun way, when someone disagrees we send a jirga to convince them. If they do not agree we send it again and again until they agree,” he said hoping that soon other parties will agree to come on board. “If someone thinks this is only the ANP’s war, let me remind them that they are mistaken.” While referring to the killings of Hazaras in Quetta and violence in Karachi, he said: “Extremism is a national issue. The ANP has invited all political parties several times to come forward and find a solution to end this menace, which has sabotaged peace in the country.” In his address, Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti said Peshawar is the strongest fort of the ANP. He added the party is now a strong political force in many districts of the province including Peshawar, Swabi, Charsadda and Mardan. Hoti further commented that the five year performance of the present Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government is far better than any other government’s performance in the past 60 years. He also paid tribute to the sacrifices of slain party leaders Bashir Ahmad Bilour, Alamzeb Khan, Dr Shamsher Ali Khan, Mian Rashid Hussain among other party workers. The CM announced that a children’s hospital named after Bashir Ahmad Bilour will be established in Peshawar. The cost of the hospital is estimated at Rs2.2 billion. Strict security measures were taken at the premises and Sher Shah Suri Road was blocked with barbed wire for all kinds of traffic.