PESHAWAR
Awami National Party (ANP) central president Aimal Wali Khan has demanded the immediate convening of a joint session of parliament to discuss the security situation in Tirah Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, saying the issues were too serious to be ignored or handled behind closed doors.
In a statement issued here on Saturday, Mr Khan questioned why in-camera joint sessions of parliament were convened for what he termed “minor legislation” but not on grave and sensitive issues such as the situation in Tirah and Balochistan.
He said the attitude of both the federal and provincial governments towards Tirah had become unbearable for the local population.
“The people of Tirah are facing severe hardships; their lives and future are at stake, yet the rulers in Islamabad and Peshawar are busy shifting responsibility onto each other instead of taking the matter seriously,” he added.
The ANP president maintained that the issue was not an operation but terrorism. He alleged that key decisions regarding Tirah were taken behind closed doors, leaving the people helpless later on.
This conduct, he said, reflected a lack of seriousness on the part of the state. He maintained that both the federal and provincial governments were accountable to parliament and the nation and must place all facts before them.
Expressing concern over the situation in Balochistan, the ANP chief said recent incidents in the province were not unusual and, despite some attacks being repelled, serious threats still existed.
These, he said, must be addressed through meaningful and sustained measures.
ANP had always opposed extremism and terrorism in all forms and would continue to do so, he said. However, he added that further marginalising people under the pretext of counterterrorism would only worsen the situation.
Issues such as enforced disappearances, inequitable distribution of resources, royalty disputes, lack of provincial autonomy and incomplete implementation of the Constitution were aggravating public resentment, he said.
Referring to the recent incident at an Imambargah in Rawalpindi, Mr Khan termed it a tragic reflection of the prevailing security situation.
He alleged that the governments in KP and Balochistan did not represent the true public mandate and had been imposed on the people, adding that along with the current rulers, those responsible for installing “incompetent and unrepresentative governments” must also be held accountable for the instability in these regions.
