DLP Report
PESHAWAR
The Awami National Party (ANP) has announced that it will convene a grand Loya Jirga on July 13 to oppose the imposition of taxes in Malakand Division, saying the issue concerns the constitutional and historical rights of the region’s people rather than any single political party.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, ANP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa General Secretary Hussain Shah Yousafzai said the jirga would bring together representatives of political parties, traders, lawyers, students, labour organisations, civil society and other segments of society to formulate a united response against the taxation policy.
He said the party was making every effort to unite all political and social forces on a common platform, adding that ANP President Senator Aimal Wali Khan had already pledged to pursue the issue at every constitutional, democratic and political forum.
Mr Yousafzai said neither the federal nor the provincial government would be allowed to deprive the people of Malakand Division of their constitutional, legal and historical rights.
He said preparations for the jirga were under way and that the party had intensified consultations with political and social organisations. An ANP delegation led by provincial president Mian Iftikhar Hussain met JUI-F provincial chief Maulana Ataur Rehman, Jamaat-i-Islami (North KP) chief Inayatullah Khan, and PML-N provincial president Amir Muqam to discuss the tax issue and formally invite them to the July 13 gathering.
He added that Mian Iftikhar Hussain had also contacted PTI provincial president Junaid Akbar, PPP leaders Humayun Khan and Muhammad Ali Bacha, NDM provincial chairperson Bushra Gohar, Malakand Trade Union chairman Abdul Rahim, and other political leaders by telephone. According to Mr Yousafzai, all of them accepted the invitation and assured their participation in the jirga.
He said the struggle to protect the rights of the people of Malakand Division was a collective cause and vowed that the ANP would continue its campaign until the issue reached its logical conclusion.
