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ANP chief says deprivation forces people to militancy
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CHARSADDA: The leader of a secular party hailed its election win over hardliners
as a triumph for moderate forces, but called for international aid to stamp out
militancy for good.
Asfandyar Wali Khan, chief of the Awami National Party (ANP), said economic
assistance and political reconciliation were the key to success in a region
where Al Qaeda and Taliban militants were holed up.
“The voters have made it clear that they do not want wars and militancy,” Khan
told AFP in an interview on Wednesday in Charsadda.
“The foremost priority for us now is to restore peace in this province, which is
now known worldwide for producing extremists and terrorists,” Khan said.
The country’s northwest has seen the worst of a wave of violence blamed on Al
Qaeda and Taliban militants that has swept the country in recent months,
worrying Musharraf’s Western allies.
ANP rallies were bombed twice in the run-up to the polls, killing around two
dozens of people. The party now has 10 national seats after the parliamentary
elections – while the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal – an alliance of religious parties
– saw its seats fall from 56 to five.
Khan warned, however, that keeping momentum against extremism involved
international economic assistance and ending the political disenfranchisement of
many parts of the conservative province.
“Our people have given their verdict and now the ball is in the court of the
international community to support us in our quest to give our children books
and pens instead of Kalashnikovs and suicide jackets,” he said.
He blamed the ongoing insurgency in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, and a
recent uprising led by hardine Mullah Fazlullah in Swat, on the outgoing
administration’s failure to engage the region’s people.
Sense of deprivation: “It is in fact the existing sense of deprivation and
disenchantment which forced people to launch a rebellion against the
government,” Khan said.
Troops have killed hundreds of militants in the troubled tribal regions
bordering Afghanistan since 2001, angering many in the region and fuelling
anti-Western sentiment.
But Khan was non-committal when asked whether his party would continue to
support the Musharraf regime’s support for the US-led “war on terror”.
The ANP has previously spoken out against the country’s involvement, saying that
a war of foreign powers was being fought on Pakistani soil.
“As far as the war on terror is concerned, this is something being supervised by
the central government,” Khan said.
“This is not a provincial matter but we will discuss it with the centre after
formation of new governments.”
But he was clear of the need to solve the militancy problem.
“God help Pakistan and this region if these moderate forces fail to deliver and
rid the country of terrorism, militancy and extremism,” the ANP chief said. afp
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